


gentle breeze - ateez seongjoong

by juum34n



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: BL, Boarding School, Cute, Fluff, High School, M/M, Romance, Roommates, bxb - Freeform, seongjoong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21584020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juum34n/pseuds/juum34n
Summary: in which seonghwa, the school's ice prince melts when hongjoong enters his life.hongjoong, a new student of the boarding school, gets assigned to the same room as seonghwa, who has been living alone for a while.the hongjoong who didn't believe rumours of seonghwa, didn't really care about him.the seonghwa who believed hongjoong wasn't like the rest, started secretly caring for him.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Kim Hongjoong & Park Seonghwa
Comments: 31
Kudos: 297





	1. Chapter 1

"what? you're in the same dorm as park seonghwa? _the_ park seonghwa?" jisung, hongjoong's newly made friend exclaimed.

"yes, what about it?" he questioned, highly confused. hongjoong had just reached his new homeroom, and a few kids came over to say hi.

"oh man, you're so screwed," another male standing beside jisung chuckled. "you're scaring him, minho!" a shorter male nudged minho's side, causing him to wince in pain. 

"what, what about him? am i going to get bullied or whatever?" hongjoong asked, raising a brow. he wasn't going to tolerate any bullying. if anything, he would be the one bullying the bully.

"i don't know, you're probably gonna get kicked out for no reason. or maybe willingly switch dorms," minho sighed, crossing his arms. "legend has it that many past occupants of dorm A309 never get to have a longlasting stay. some believe they get bullied, some believe they get done by park seonghwa. i don't know, never experienced it,"

at this point, hongjoong was speechless. get done by... a high schooler? in school compounds? the heck? are these even real?

"believe it or not, someone has evidence of it. a voice recording of them doing it! how-"

"just shut up, minho, stop with your weird rumours," the shorter male put his hand over minho's mouth. "ew, changbin! did you even wash your hand?"

the three boys started bickering, leaving hongjoong in his own thoughts.

if his roommate was this kind of weird person, then he'd definitely have to be wary of him. _i'll just have to ask around more..._

-

the first two periods passed by quickly like the wind. it was now lunch period. hongjoong liked to eat alone, so he turned down jisung, minho and changbin's offer to have lunch together.

halfway through his delicious oyakodon, another group of boys came over to his table. "hey, you're hongjoong?" a boy with deep voice asked.

hongjoong nodded his head, unable to speak due to the food in his mouth.

"great. i'm mingi, and these are yunho and yeosang. nice to meet you!" said boy greeted, smiling from tooth to tooth. hongjoong introduced himself too, and the three of them sat across from him.

"what's up?" he asked, curious of their approach.

"we're friends with jisung and the rest, and i heard from them that you're roommates with park seonghwa," mingi started, still smiling.

"well... yeah. what about it?" hongjoong groaned internally. exactly how dangerous is seonghwa? he'd like to see for himself.

"oh boy, you'd regret being roomies with him. why not you apply for a transfer? my pal yeosang has a vacancy in his room," he suggested, pointing to the quiet boy on his left.

"err..." hongjoong raised his brow for the nth time today. in between the periods, people kept asking him about his roommate and stuff, his whole mind kept revolving around park seonghwa. like, he haven't even seen him in person yet!

"you'll definitely regret. i guarantee it. it's confirmed. you will transfer sooner or later. i'm just helping you get along, since you're new," mingi insisted, moving his body closer to hongjoong and staring intently at him, raising up his index finger.

"yeah, man. yeosang is a nice guy. you'll make a good friend," yunho, who thought he was way too silent, chirped in too.

"thanks for the offer, really, but i think i'll stay in my dorm. i'll see after a while," hongjoong said, looking sadly at his now cold bowl of oyakodon.

"alright then. it's cool. here's my number in case. see you around!" mingi and the rest bid their goodbyes and left.

"i just don't believe he's that bad of a guy..." hongjoong mumbled, and continued eating his cold oyakodon.

-

it was fifth period. the last for the day.

it was a banded math class, where everyone from different classes were mixed together. hongjoong, being a genius was banded into the first few classes. 

he didn't know where he should sit, so he just randomly picked a seat at the very back of the class. it seemed clean and untouched, and so did the one beside it, so he assumed it was no one's seat.

as he made himself comfortable, people were starting to look at him weirdly and whisper. what? is this seat a bully's seat?

right before the teacher came in, a tall, slim, black-haired male walked into the class, hands tucked in his pockets and bag slung on one shoulder.

he didn't know if it was because of the teacher or the male the class went silent immediately.

then the male walked towards him and pulled out the chair beside his seat.

_oh._

_so it was because i'm sitting beside some good looking guy that's the man of their dreams._

ah, how badly his head hurt. first, his roommate. second, his seatmate. if he wasn't going to suffer because of his roommate's 'bullying', then he was going to suffer from being the letterboy of his seatmate.

hongjoong decided to ask the male in case someone else was supposed to sit at his place.

"hey, is anyone supposed to be sitting at my place?"

the male shook his head without shifting his sight away from the whiteboard.

"then is it okay if i continue sitting here?"

"up to you," the male finally said something, but his gaze was still on the whiteboard.

"then may i ask what's your name? i'm hongjoong, kim hongjoong,"

"seonghwa. park seonghwa,"


	2. Chapter 2

_“seonghwa. park seonghwa,”_

the male now turned his head to look at hongjoong. more like, glare at hongjoong. he gulped a little and nodded. “i-i hope we get along well, haha,” he awkwardly smiled, slowly retracting his gaze back to his lap.

now that he has seen him in person, the rumors really look part believable. anyway, hongjoong didn’t really care. he’d like to see what seonghwa can do to him.

fifth period ended, and hongjoong made his way to the office to get his luggage before heading to the dorm. he packed up his things ad was about to leave, but he was stopped.

it was seonghwa, pulling his hand.

“… yes?”

“see you at the dorm,” seonghwa said, looking, or rather, glaring into hongjoong’s eyes. that was all he said before he let go of his hand and left hongjoong in the almost empty classroom.

“uh, okay?” hongjoong reacted, raising his brow. was something going to happen to him later? was this a threat?

–

hongjoong was finally at the dorm, after having a lengthy chat with the friendly office lady. he fished out his keys and was about to stick it into the keyhole, when the door opened. it was seonghwa.

“oh, hey seonghwa,” hongjoong greeted, and seonghwa returned it with a nod. he moved aside for hongjoong to enter with his luggage, and closed the door after.

hongjoong looked around the dorm. it was a simple room. it had a bunk bed, two study tables and a balcony, with a basin, washing machine and a drying rack. the bedsheets were very straight, and blankets neatly folded. seonghwa’s study table had many books, but were all stacked up neatly. a grey laptop sat on his clean tabletop. well, in a nutshell, the dorm was clean, too clean for a guy’s dorm. hongjoong liked it very much, he was satisfied. it was good to have a roommate this organised.

he started unpacking his stuff, making the dorm look more lively with his little pots of plants and small figurines. he even hung up photos of him and his old friends.

it was 4pm when he finished unpacking. hongjoong collapsed on the bed, responding to messages from his parents and old friends. he had totally forgotten about seonghwa’s existence at this point.

a while later, he gathered all his toiletries and headed to the public bathroom to take a shower. it sucked how the dorms didn’t have their own toilets, but it was better, since they didn’t have to clean them anyways.

he was about to open the door, when seonghwa suddenly stood beside him, reaching out to open it instead. it surprised hongjoong a little.

“o-oh hey seonghwa. going for a shower too?” hongjoong asked, and seonghwa nodded without looking at him.

the two of them awkwardly walked side by side, neither of them speaking.

there wasn’t much people in the public bathroom at this time, which was good. hongjoong washed up quickly and packed his toiletries, getting ready to return to the dorm. and yes, he forgot about seonghwa once again. if seonghwa was really like what the rumours say, then hongjoong ought to be dead meat by now.

lucky for seonghwa, he finished faster than hongjoong and was already waiting for him outside the bathroom. when he came out, seonghwa just fell into step with hongjoong, not uttering a word and again surprising him.

after the two had another awkward and silent walk back, they decided to go for dinner together. it sure had attracted many people’s attention, which hongjoong disliked. he so badly wanted to walk separate ways with seonghwa. or maybe dig a hole and jump inside.

“woah, look, it’s the newbie and seonghwa! why’re they together?”

“that’s his new roommate! poor guy, i pity him so much. he’s gonna hate his high school life,”

“oh man, if seonghwa wasn’t so weird, then i’d be wooing him everyday! such a waste,”

all these comments made hongjoong’s head hurt. _i’ll show the whole school population that i won’t be bullied! i’ll be the new seonghwa if i have to._

soon, they got their food and found a nice, quiet and shady corner below a tree with a gentle breeze blowing. it was currently the end of summer, and the heat had died down.

they sat awkwardly across from each other, and ate their food in awkward silence. seonghwa was eating an oyakodon, while hongjoong had his heart set on a katsu don. he loved japanese cuisine a lot.

“so… how’re you?” it was way too awkward. hongjoong had to start a conversation. not a good one, obviously.

“fine,”

“what’s your homeroom class?”

“2-3,”

“oh cool. i’m in 2-5,”

“…”

“can i drop by with some snacks sometime?”

“…okay,”

and the conversation ended. they were at the end of their dishes anyway, just nice. hongjoong heaved a sigh of relief. he didn’t wanna do this anymore. it was so awkward it hurts. at this point, he didn’t really care about him and seonghwa’s friendship. _i’ll just let him be… i guess._

–

back in the dorm, the two started doing their homework. again, silence. hongjoong didn’t really like silence, it was suffocating. so he decided to talk to seonghwa. _whatever happened to letting seonghwa be?_

“seonghwa,”

he looked up from his books, turning to face hongjoong.

“can you help me with math?” of course. now he was going to think hongjoong was an idiot for not knowing how to do a simple question.

“okay,” surprisingly, he agreed without hesitating. he even went over to hongjoong’s desk. like agreed, he helped him with the entire 5-part question. this must be the first time he had spoken so much in a month.

silence fell over the room again. hongjoong decided to plug in his earphones, when someone knocked on the door.

seonghwa went over to open the door immediately.

“o-oh, h-hey seonghwa! err, we’re here for hongjoong!” it was yunho. behind him was mingi and yeosang.

“that’d be me! i’ll be out for a moment then,” hongjoong rose up from his seat. ah, finally. some noise. he bid goodbye to seonghwa, which he nodded in response.

when hongjoong was out of the door, yeosang quickly dragged him away to another floor, and into another dorm, A223. seems like it was yeosang’s dorm.

“wow! i’ve never spoken to seonghwa face-to-face!” yunho exclaimed, placing a hand on his chest.

“i’ve also never heard him speak so much! wow!” yeosang exclaimed too, and copied yunho’s actions.

“gasp! is this some kind of preparation for hongjoong before he crushed him? o-em-gee!” mingi squealed like a high school girl(boy).

this dramatic trio. hongjoong rolled his eyes. “well, i don’t know. i decided to just let him be,”

“i sure hope nothing happens to you! you can transfer to my dorm anytime. always welcome for you,” yeosang offered, also throwing in a yawn at the end of the sentence. “i’m so tired,”

“yeah, old man. you’re always tired. it’s only 7pm,” yunho rolled his eyes.

“let’s go get dinner. wanna come with, hongjoong?” mingi offered, heading towards the door.

“no thanks, i’ve already eaten,”

“what the heck? so we just walked a long way here to exchange a few sentences?” yeosang complained. it was because his dorm was located at the very end of the corridor, which was quite a distance away from the stairs.

“yeah, we didn’t want anyone hearing in on us,” mingi deadpanned, “up to you if you wanna stay. let’s go, yunho,”

“you’re all so mean!”

–

hongjoong returned to the dorm to find seonghwa sound asleep on his study table.

“oh, he must’ve been bored,” hongjoong thought out loud, “wait, he’s always been alone. what do i mean,”

he carefully picked up seonghwa in his arms, and carried him to his bed, since he couldn’t possibly reach the top bunk with his height.

right before hongjoong walked away, he was stopped by seonghwa, who had grabbed bed his wrist.

“d-don’t go…”


	3. Chapter 3

_"d-don't go,"_

hongjoong turned around and caught sight of seonghwa's pained expression. he looked so sad and afraid, his grip on his wrist tightening every second. he was so vulnerable at that moment. 

people who believed the rumors would think that seonghwa looked pitiful, or still even a little intimidating. but to the hongjoong who didn't, he thought that he was… kinda cute.

so hongjoong did as he was told, and sat down at the side of his bed. 

"m-mom… p-please…" seonghwa whimpered, curling himself up into a ball. the grip on hongjoong's wrist was still very tight.

_mom?_ _did he have some kind of traumatic experience when he was a kid?_

"yes, yes, mom is here, i won't go, i'll always be by your side," hongjoong coaxed, hoping to comfort him a little, despite the fact that seonghwa probably won't hear him. seonghwa continued to whimper, and hongjoong rubbed small circles on his back with his thumb, hoping it would at least soothe him a little.

this went on for almost 40 minutes, and hongjoong was getting tired. seonghwa was still holding tightly onto his wrist. _i have no choice. i'll just have to nap beside him. hope he doesn't wake up before i do._

that was what hongjoong thought.

\--

"..."

seonghwa opened his eyes, adjusting to the light in the dorm that hongjoong forgotten to turn off. he lifted his hand up to rub his eyes, but found that he couldn't. they were being held down by something. or rather, _someone._

hongjoong had his arms around seonghwa, bounding his arms. it was his sleeping habit. hongjoong had always been hugging his large stuffed toy to sleep since young, so it developed into a habit.

seonghwa was confused _,_ but he liked the feeling. he was an only child, and had been alone since young. his parents were workaholics, often working out from early morning to late at night, so there was barely a chance to see each other, or even converse.

he had only been the most in touch with his babysitter. he didn't like her, and always kept to himself. the babysitter didn't bother interacting with him either, letting him do everything on his own.

thus, seonghwa didn't have the ability to express himself, which explains all the weird rumors and bad impressions people had of him. despite all that, he was very independent, which explains the good upbringing of the dorm.

seonghwa then noticed he was interlocking hands with hongjoong. he smiled to himself. _how cute._

he slowly pried hongjoong's hand off his body, and went to turn off the lights. then, he laid back down on the bed and turned his body so he was facing hongjoong.

"thank you for not believing the others," seonghwa muttered, and wrapped his arms around hongjoong. he responded by mumbling a few incoherent words and shifting closer into his warm chest.

the two stayed like that until the next day.

hongjoong was the first to wake up. the first thing he saw was seonghwa's chest, which got him very very confused.

_wasn't i just holding his hand last night????_

then he tried to lift his head to look up, but instead the top of his head hit seonghwa's chin, which woke him up.

hongjoong immediately backed away from him, escaping his arms. "u-uh... hey, g-good morning s-seonghwa. did you sleep well?"

seonghwa was staring at him. hongjoong didn't know what he was thinking. his face sent a lot of mixed emotions. was he angry? was he disgusted? was he... happy?

"mm," seonghwa hummed in response and got off the bed. "get ready quickly. it's 7am," then he headed to the basin in the balcony.

_that was it? he wasn't mad? he wasn't gonna kick me out? maybe he just doesn't want to scare me... maybe he'll finally kick me out later... maybe the rumors are true after all..._

"hongjoong,"

"ah! yes, i'm here!" hongjoong shouted in surprised, and stood up straight at once. seonghwa chuckled. "i'vd already brushed my teeth. you should go too. we don't want to be late," he passed him hongjoong's toothbrush and went to prepare his outfit.

hongjoong was shocked speechless. he couldn't believe his ears. did seonghwa just _chuckle?_ like... chuckle _chuckle?_ that laughing sound? wait, wait, he can't rn...

"what? something on my face? hurry and go brush your teeth. or else we won't get to shower," seonghwa took hongjoong's hand and put the toothbrush into his palm, "stop staring, or i'll get embarrassed,"

hongjoong really wanted to faint. what did seonghwa dream of last night that made him like this? this was such a huge difference from yesterday! he was starting to believe he had split personalities...

hongjoong came back to his senses and wasted no more time. it was already 7:15am, and classes started at 8am. the bathroom would definitely be crowded by now. he decided that he would think more later.

\--

they managed to get to class on time. the first period was a chemistry class, which hongjoong loved. but he couldn't seem to concentrate at all. his thoughts were all revolving around seonghwa's actions in the morning, and he couldn't even answer a simple question posed by the teacher. lucky for him, the teacher let him off since he thought it was because he wasn't used to the new environment.

seonghwa continued to fill his mind until lunch period came. the last period was language, and he somehow knew that seonghwa's class was a level lower than his, which means he was on the second floor. so he purposely took his time heading down. but... not like seonghwa was gonna have lunch with him anyway. they only had dinner once, and it was awkward as heck. he didn't want a repeat of that.

when he reached the second floor, he heaved a sigh of relief to find that seonghwa wasn't in sight. he got ahead of himself and dashed down the stairs to the first floor. he was hungry, and the cafeteria was definitely full at this point.

however, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was shocked to find seonghwa leaning against the wall coolly, holding a plastic bag.

...

"let's go," he said, looking at him coldly as usual. he turned around and started walking with one hand tucked inside his pocket and the other holding the plastic bag.

hongjoong fell a few steps back from him, studying his back figure. he was so cool... the way he walked even carried this cool and unapproachable aura... he still looked so handsome even from his back, and don't even talk about the front!

_wait, what. what the heck am i thinking?_

hongjoong patted his cheeks a little, shaking his head too. these thoughts are waaaaay too weird. kinda sounded like that one seonghwa fangirl he overheard while lining up for food last evening. sounded like he was infatuated with him... or something... but he was straight. 100%. no one can bend him. for real. mark my words(not really).

the two arrived at their previous dining spot, and seonghwa revealed the contents of the plastic bag.

it seems like he had leftover kimchi fried rice from home economics lesson. it was just enough for two, so they didn't have to worry about lunch.

hongjoong scooped a spoonful of fried rice to his mouth, and slowly chewed, taking in all the different flavours that exploded in his mouth. his eyes lit up at the extraordinary taste. sure, he had kimchi fried rice made by his old friends before, but this fried rice was particularly scrumptious.

"wow, did you make this all by yourself?" hongjoong asked with a mouthful of rice. seonghwa only nodded, and scooped up a spoon of rice for himself too. seonghwa had been observing hongjoong's reactions closely. he thought he looked super cute when his eyes lit up, and when his cheeks were stuffed. he looked exactly like a tiny hamster, especially with that super huge coat hongjoong was wearing.

_you know why it's so good? because i made it with my love._


	4. Chapter 4

**♡ - this part is mostly about seonghwa’s past**

**♡ - i’m mostly writing these in the middle of the night, so my apologies if there are frequent typos or grammatical errors that i wasn’t able to spot.**

–

_you know why it’s so good? because i made it with my love._

the two silently finished up the fried rice, and hongjoong suggested they go for a round of desserts before they start to head back. lunch period lasted for an hour, and they still had 30 minutes left.

hongjoong enjoyed the silence today. he was too distracted by seonghwa’s kimchi fried rice, he even forgot about that morning’s incident, until he looked up at seonghwa’s stiff face, now a lot less stiffer than usual, but still a little stiff.

“let’s go to the dessert shop beside our dorm block,” seonghwa suggested, after he cleaned up the place. hongjoong replied with an “ok”, and they started to make their way over.

hongjoong noticed that seonghwa was still holding the plastic bag with the two empty containers. “are you gonna keep those?” he asked, trying to start a conversation as they walked. hopefully this one won’t flop.

“mm,” seonghwa mumbled in response, and kept quiet after that. _just that?_

“are you gonna use it for the next lesson?”

“mm,”

“are you gonna leave extras for me again?”

“mm. home ec classes are every tuesday and thursday,”

“cool. i’ll look forward to this thursday then,”

and the conversation ended. _not bad,_ hongjoong thought. this conversation was a little longer than usual. he wanted to ask him about last night, but he didn’t know how to start. he kept pondering on question starters the whole trip to the dessert shop.

they arrived at the shop, ordered their desserts and chose to sit in a dark corner.

“haha, this spot is quite cozy. i like it,” hongjoong awkwardly said, scratching his head.

“i like it too,” seonghwa replied, looking at hongjoong’s hazelnut eyes. their eyes locked for a moment, before hongjoong broke it and coughed.

“oh, right. last night, were you okay? you seemed to be dreaming of something scary,” hongjoong questioned boldly, finally mustering his courage to ask.

however, seonghwa only nodded. hongjoong was really exasperated at his weird behaviour towards him. sometimes he was cold, sometimes he was caring. so did seonghwa accept him as his friend and roommate or not? or was he just fooling around with him, afterwards throwing him out of the dorm, and then the two of them end up in bad terms. he definitely would screw his life up if he really planned to do that.

they ate in silence again, and were headed back to class in no time.

–

it was soon fifth period. it was math class again. nothing awkward happened during dessert, but hongjoong was still curious about his dream. and what exactly happened, that the two were in that position.

seonghwa soon arrived, followed by the teacher, so hongjoong couldn’t ask much. he was really eager to know now, and just like earlier in the morning, his thoughts were full of seonghwa.

now that seonghwa was beside him, it was harder to concentrate than usual. he had the urge to pass him a paper message since they were all the way back in the classroom. he looked around to check that no one was looking at them, and quickly wrote down a note.

he slid it over to seonghwa, which he coldly looked down at. he wrote a few words quickly, and slid it back.

_i’ll explain in the dorm._

–

seonghwa excused himself to the washroom. he had to sort out his thoughts.

he had that same dream again last night. it was a dream about his childhood, where his mom had left him all by himself on a scary, thunderstorm night, saying that she had to go for work. afterwards, some tall black figure entered his room right after his mom left, and started to insult him with things like, “your parents don’t want you anymore,” and “you’re gonna be alone forever”.

he didn’t remember much from his childhood, but he can’t seem to forget about his ugly, mean babysitter. he didn’t even have the chance to tell his parents about it, since they were always so busy. they didn’t bother checking with him or the babysitter either, so they just let her be, and they let seonghwa become this… sad, emotionless person.

because of that night, he started being scared of thunderstorms. he’d always lock himself in and cry softly during thunderstorms, and no one will ever know.

sure, his past roommates had helped lessen the impact a little, but they always didn’t care about him.

all the rumors about him started with this guy, his first roommate. he really pissed seonghwa off in many ways. firstly, he messed up the dorm a lot and didn’t clean up after himself. secondly, he often brought his friends over late in the night when seonghwa was either trying his best to complete the tons of homework, or sleeping. thirdly, the worst of all, he used seonghwa’s laptop to watch explicit videos and even relieved himself on his chair, and spilled all over his table. what was even worse, he didn’t even bother to clear his search history and clean the table. he just left it like that.

this was the last straw. seonghwa couldn’t take it anymore. he secretly applied for a dorm transfer for him, and then threw all his stuff out, including the table that he dirtied. seonghwa didn’t even want to clean up for him anymore.

the guy couldn’t believe it, so he started to go against seonghwa instead of being apologetic to him. that was how his reputation as ice prince further worsened.

since he didn’t step out to speak for himself, the rumors started becoming even more twisted to the point he didn’t know anymore. that was when everyone started being afraid of him. he thus became lonelier than usual.

now that hongjoong had entered his life, he had hoped he wasn’t really like the others, and boy, he was right.

seonghwa happened to be sitting near hongjoong during lunch. he had overheard his conversation with mingi and the others. he didn’t really care at first, but when they all left, he had heard hongjoong mutter that last sentence to himself.

he didn’t believe the rumors.

that was great! finally someone who saw him differently. seonghwa believed in hongjoong, he believed that they would be good friends, and that he would bring him out of his lonely shell and walk into adulthood together.

he only wanted to be just friends, and nothing more. he wasn’t sure why he thought of… _that_ during lunch. maybe hongjoong was just too cute, and he got caught up in the moment… no way he’d be in love with him so quickly.

–

hongjoong was dying to know. it was like he was sitting on pins and needles. he so badly wanted the time to pass by faster, so he could return to the dorm and hear seonghwa’s explanation. maybe they could even establish their friendship later. who knows?

anyway, hongjoong decided he’d go all out and ask him everything he wanted to.

the bell soon rang, and hongjoong waited for seonghwa to pack his stuff, and dragged him all the way back to their dorm.

the door was pushed harshly and it closed with a bang. hongjoong pushed seonghwa to sit on his bed.

“so, what exactly happened last night?” hongjoong dragged a chair in front of seonghwa and sat backwards on it.

“… are you really that eager to know?” seonghwa looked into hongjoong’s eyes emotionlessly as usual, which drove hongjoong insane.

“yes, duh! now answer me,” he was losing his patience slowly but surely. he didn’t care about speaking politely to him anymore. if he was gonna get his ass whooped then so be it.

“i dreamt of my childhood. then i don’t remember anything after that. i was just sleeping,” seonghwa kept eye contact with hongjoong all the time.

“oh,”

then came silence.

“are… those rumors real?” hongjoong asked carefully, nervous of seonghwa’s response. as expected, he denied them and started explaining things to him.

seonghwa felt relieved, all of a sudden. he had never spoke so much in such a long time, and it was even about himself. he felt like a super heavy stone had been lifted off his shoulders, and he felt lighter now.

“thank you,” he mumbled, at the end of his little rant.

“for what?” hongjoong raised his brow.

“for… listening. thanks. i had never spoken like this to a anyone in ages,” seonghwa mumbled again, his gaze falling onto his lap. he wanted to ask hongjoong to be his friend. he wanted to make things clear. but somehow, he was nervous.

“seonghwa… we’re friends now. this kind of thing is normal. you don’t have to thank me for it,” hongjoong, who felt much more relaxed now, smiled from tooth to tooth, and be even ruffled his hair.

“we’re… friends?” seonghwa asked, in a timid voice. he felt like he was going to burst into tears.

“yes, we already were from the start,” then the tap started flowing.


	5. Chapter 5

_“we already were from the start,” then the tap started flowing._

–

now that their friendship was established, hongjoong couldn’t be more relaxed. a nice, organised roommate, and a nice, organised dorm. this was what he wanted. a nice, organised life in his nice, organised high school. he even had a nice sleep and even had an organised dream.

however, there has to be some flaws. nothing is perfect.

aha, yes. the trio. the two sets of trios. mingi, yunho and yeosang. jisung, minho and changbin. ever since that wonderful day, hongjoong had been livelier, and seonghwa had been friendlier to him than usual. of course the witnesses can’t just sit back and watch quietly. they had to have something to gossip about.

thus, someone knocked on room number A309 at 6:47am on a chilly thursday morning.

seonghwa was the one who opened the door, since hongjoong was still brushing his teeth.

“good morning,” seonghwa greeted with a straight face, almost scaring yeosang, who was the only one at the door.

“g-good morning. may i ask if hongjoong’s in?” yeosang politely asked, adding in a bow. well, it’s not like he didn’t always bow to people, but yeosang looked as if he was talking to his employer or something.

“yes, he’s brushing his teeth. you can come in and wait,” seonghwa replied, shifting to the side to let him come in. he shivered after hearing his response. sounded like he was _literally_ ordering him to come inside…

“joong, yeosang’s here,” seonghwa casually called, and went back to packing his schoolbag.

yeosang: … _j-joong?! Σ(･口･)_

hongjoong made a sound in response, and continued to take his time to brush his teeth. while yeosang was sitting awkwardly on hongjoong’s chair, he caught seonghwa helping him pack his bag too… he even memorised his timetable! yeosang knew it straight away because he had the same classes as hongjoong. he watched as seonghwa placed the textbooks one by one, according to the timetable.

he was so shocked! first, joong, and now, this? was he looking at the same seonghwa? did he have split personalities? was he seeing things?

he quickly pulled out his phone and texted this new piece of gossip to mingi and yunho.

“hey, who’re you texting? you’re attacking your keyboard,” hongjoong had finally finished and had went over to yeosang. “n-nothing,” he quickly exited the chatting app and locked his phone. “hehet,”

“spill, what are you here for?” hongjoong asked, taking his bag from seonghwa and checking the contents.

“oh, mingi told me to come check on you. since he lives in block b and can’t come over so early,” yeosang finally relaxed and stretched his arms a little. seonghwa had gone into the balcony to take in some dried clothes.

“what could possibly happen to me? i’m fine,” hongjoong did a 360° turn, and chuckled. “seonghwa’s nice. it’s cool. he’s my friend,”

“oh,”

“yeah,”

“okay, then i’ll get going now,” yeosang stood up, did another stretch and headed for the door. “your friend is also my friend. i’ll try to be more natural around him,”

“alright. thanks for that. tell the others the rumors are all fake,” hongjoong cracked a smile and patted yeosang’s back.

“will do. see you later!” yeosang did a tiny wave and turned to the door. “wait,”

“what?”

yeosang groaned. like groaned really loudly and heavily.

“i came here just to have a few sentences worth of conversation with you and now i have to walk all the way back,”

“sucks to be you then. now get out, the shower’s gonna get crowded,” hongjoong shooed him out, patting his back a few times.

after he left, seonghwa then carefully stuck his head in from the balcony. “j-joong,”

“yeah?”

“that was… y-yeosang, right?” there was a mix of uncertainty and excitement in his voice.

“yes, he’s yeosang. what about him?”

“h-he… said i’m his friend too? really?” the look on seonghwa’s face was… cute. he looked shocked and happy at the same time. hongjoong just wanted to pat both his cheeks, squish them and maybe… place a kiss on his forehead. he looked so protectable. hongjoong wanted to protect him.

“j-joong? are you listening?” seonghwa waved his hand in front of his face, which snapped him out of his fantasy.

“o-oh, yes, i’m listening. and yes, he said you’re his friend. so you two can hang out more often,” hongjoong scratched his head awkwardly. what the heck was he thinking earlier?

“a-ah! the time is ticking, hurry, we gotta go take a shower before it’s too crowded!”

–

first period, history class.

hongjoong ans seonghwa shared the same class however, they were each seated on both sides of the classroom. this was all jisung’s fault, who believed hongjoong should not be in close range to seonghwa during curriculum hours, since they were already so close after school. jisung was only worried about hongjoong, but there was no need too after all. hongjoong was also quite upset that they underestimated him. sure, he looked tiny, but he had beaten a guy unconscious before. do not look down on him!

hongjoong was about to fall asleep when the male teacher announced in a loud voice that they were going to go on a field trip to a history museum.

… because they had to complete a project.

“group yourselves into two. i’m letting you choose your partners, so quickly do it without arguing,” the teacher sighed. “come up and write your names when you’re done choosing,”

noise erupted in the room as hongjoong’s classmates started to bicker if girl A should be with boy A or boy B. he sighed, stood up and looked over to seonghwa who had also done the same. he smiled at hongjoong, and he smiled back. seonghwa immediately went up to the teacher to write down their names.

“hey, hongjoong!” jisung walked over to hongjoong’s seat, and swung an arm over his shoulder. “wanna be a team?”

“oh, hahaha, err, i’m already with seonghwa. sorry,” hongjoong slid away from jisung’s arm and sat back down on his seat.

“what? SEONGHWA?!” jisung exclaimed, or more like shouted, which caught the attention of the whole class. especially seonghwa, who immediately turned his head to them.

“shush jisung, you’re too loud,” hongjoong complained, and quickly smiled and waved at seonghwa, who only looked down at his hands uneasily.

“s-sorry. but why him?”

“long story. i’ll explain next time,” hongjoong impatiently answered and shooed him away. jisung sadly left him, and went around the class looking for a groupmate.

–

this time, it was hongjoong who waited for seonghwa to come down the stairs. he held onto his phone tightly, staring at seonghwa’s contact. he didn’t know why he was so nervous. classes just ended about five minutes ago, and hongjoong ran all the way from another block to seonghwa’s block, just to wait for him. it wasn’t a short journey.

could it be that seonghwa had already gotten to their dining spot when hongjoong was running? _but it had only been five minutes…_ he couldn’t help but feel anxious as time passed.

he stood patiently for another ten minutes, and his heartbeat was increasing with each scenario he thought of: seonghwa was lost, seonghwa was angry at him, seonghwa realised he deserved a better friend.

he did all this while staring at seonghwa’s contact information.

_just freaking call him! oh my goodness._

“oh yeah. why didn’t i think of that. silly me,” he scoffed at himself, pressing the call button without hesitating.

_… then why was he staring at his contact while being nervous?????_

the line rang for six times, before seonghwa’s voice came through.

“seonghwa! where are you!” hongjoong shouted into the phone, attracting the attention of a few students nearby.

_“i-i’m at the dorm. what happened?”_

“ah, okay, stay there, i’m coming!”


	6. Chapter 6

_“ah, okay, stay there, i’m coming!”_

hongjoong wasn’t angry at seonghwa for not telling him beforehand. instead, he was relieved, and maybe a little happy that he wasn’t in any trouble.

he started running all the way back to their dorm block, A, which was also quite a distance. he wondered what seonghwa had to do there. did he forget something?

–

“teacher, err, can i leave the dish here? i’ll go back and get the report. i’m really sorry for the trouble,” seonghwa bowed repeatedly, hoping the teacher would comply.

you see, seonghwa had forgotten to take his report for the dish they had made today, and it was important for his test grades. if he didn’t submit the report now, the teachers couldn’t determine his test grade, which would also affect his end-of-year examination grades. _**(very confusing paragraph but it doesn’t matter)**_

luckily for him, the teacher had noticed his good culinary skills and good behaviour and learning attitude, thus she agreed to this suggestion.

seonnghwa thanked the teacher and ran back as fast as he could, not wanting to waste any time. he hadn’t forgotten about hongjoong, and was about to call him when he realised he had left his phone in the dorm, too. just great! now hongjoong was definitely going to think he was a bad friend, and then transfer dorms and never contact each other again. he was not going to let that happen!

just as he was entering the dorm, his phone, which was thrown on his bed started buzzing. seonghwa immediately leaped up to the top bunk without using the stairs. _ouch,_ the bunk bed thought.

 _“seonghwa! where are you!”_ he sounded… a little angry.

“i-i’m at the dorm. what happened?”

 _“ah, okay, stay there, i’m coming!”_ seonghwa hoped hongjoong wouldn’t be angry, and that he wouldn’t scold or shout at him harshly. sure, he could handle being shouted or scolded at, but if it was hongjoong, then he most likely would crumble. heck, he felt like he could melt anytime in hongjoong’s presence. his ice prince image was already starting to melt away. well, that’s what hongjoong thinks. along with yeosang. maybe yunho and the rest too, they should’ve probbaly heard the shocking news.

seonghwa patiently waited for hongjoong even though he promised his teacher he would be quick. however, 3 minutes had only passed since the call had ended, and the door to the dorm flew open.

“seonghwa!” hongjoong slammed the door closed and rushed forward to the bed and leaped up to the top bunk without using the ladder. _ouch,_ the bunk bed thought.

in seonghwa’s eyes, he saw an extremely angry hongjoong who looked liked he was going to choke him to death. immediately, all his anxious thoughts seemed to come true, and the tears he had been holding back started to fall.

“seonghwa! i was so anxious! i’m glad you’re okay!” hongjoong, who went in for a hug straight away after he landed on the top bunk, didn’t notice his tears. it was only when he felt his shoulder getting damp.

he let go of seonghwa, and his eyes locked onto his face, which was now full of tears. hongjoong’s heart ached, and he quickly hugged seonghwa again, rubbing small circles on his back with his thumb.

“d-did i scare you? i’m so sorry, seonghwa, i didn’t mean to! i was just so worried about you! don’t cry seonghwa, i’m sorry,” he anxiously explained himself, worried that seonghwa was going to keep his distance with him.

however, seonghwa started to cry more. he kept cursing himself, thinking that hongjoong was going to despise him because he cried, and because hongjoong also thought he cried because he got a shock when hongjoong suddenly just rushed in and all. he felt so dumb. this made him cry even harder.

“seonghwa! don’t worry, i’m not mad or anything! please, stop crying… i’ll cry too…” hongjoong whispered the last sentence, tightening his arms around seonghwa.

“i-i’m sorry, j-joong… i made you worry,” seonghwa sobbed, pulling away from the hug. his eyes were red and glossy, his cheeks were red and stained with his tears, and a small pout was on his mouth.

 _cute,_ hongjoong thought. he pressed his palms on either side of seonghwa’s face, and wiped his tears away with his thumbs.

“it’s alright. i’m not mad,” he softly smiled, staring into seonghwa’s dark brown eyes. his eyes were filled with so much emotions right now, compared to how he always looked–mundane.

hongjoong liked this seonghwa. he was like an innocent, pure boy with a facade of a mature, cold guy. he felt like he wanted–no, _needed_ to take good care of him, protect him and shower him with all his love. he wanted to do that so badly. he didn’t feel like this because he pitied him. he did this because he genuinely liked him.

wait, _liked_ him??

hongjoong abruptly stopped moving his thumbs.

_wow, our faces are so close._

“j-joong? are you okay?” seonghwa lifted his hand and placed it on hongjoong’s wrist, bringing him back to reality.

“a-ah?! yes!” he immediately leaped down the bed and jumped onto his bottom bunk. _ouch,_ the bunk bed thought.

“a-anyway, what w-were you here for?” hongjoong scratched his head, internally cursing himself. _what was he thinking???_

“o-oh. i forgot to bring my report out. oh right! my teacher’s still waiting for me!!” seonghwa shouted in realisation, and leaped down from the top bunk and onto the hard floor, giving hongjoong, who currently had his face in his pillow, a surprise.

seonghwa rummaged through his pile of neatly shelved books, messing them up. when he finally found his report, he pulled hongjoong up from his bed and started running to his classroom block, hand-in-hand with hongjoong.

–

“teach! i’m so sorry for the long wait!” seonghwa ran straight into the classroom, without knocking onto the door at all. well, you see…

there was a currently a class going on. seonghwa was holding onto hongjoong’s wirst, and he was waving his report up high with his other hand.

the class started whispering, giving them looks. the ice prince seonghwa barged into class abruptly, holding onto someone’s hand????

hongjoong, who wasn’t a fan of attention looked down at his shoes and rubbed his nose awkwardly.

“a-ah, s-sorry,” seonghwa bowed, and let go of hongjoong’s hand before entering the class and passing his report to his teacher. of course, he did not forget to retrieve the dish he had made, and apologise to her and the class once again.

the two started to head off to their usual dining spot.

“joong! i’m so sorry, i’m such a dumbass–”

“seonghwa! it’s not your fault! you were just anxious, that’s all,” hongjoong patted his back, giving him a reassuring smile. “you’re apologising too much today,”

“…sorry…” seonghwa lowered his head, fiddling with his thumbs.

“see, you’re at it again. there’s no need to say sorry! especially to me,” hongjoong chuckled softly and tried to rub seonghwa’s head.

_but… i don’t want to upset you. i don’t want to trouble you. i don’t want to hurt you. i want to keep apologising to you, because you’re so precious to me._

“enough of that! let me see, what did you cook today?” hongjoong tried to take the plastic bag, holding seonghwa’s hand in the process.

seonghwa flinched at the sudden contact, and pulled his hands away from hongjoong’s. he was surprised, and they stopped in their tracks, staring at each other.

“o-oh, i w-want it to be a s-surprise. yes, a surprise! i-i’ll let you see when w-we’re at the bench,” seonghwa nervously explained, continuing his tracks. hongjoong nodded, and kept up with his pace.

–

the journey to the bench was… quite silent. it didn’t seem awkward at all on the outside, but on the inside, the two boys were panicking.

“o-oh, we’re here,” hongjoong announced, and sat down on his usual side of the bench, where the breeze of the wind would gently blow on his hair, making him look cute as hell in seonghwa’s eyes.

seonghwa took out the two containers out of the bag, and hongjoong immediately took one from him, opening the lid excitedly. the spicy fragrance of the dish immediately erupted from the container and danced along with the gentle breeze, making the air smell nicer.

hongjoong loved spicy things the most, and this dish–spicy chicken kebab with nice, fluffly egg rolls was right up his alley.

seonghwa was worried that the food might be cold, and observed hongjoong take the first bite.

like the first time trying his food, his eyes lit up, with both his cheeks stuffed.

“this is so good!” he praised, and continued to wolf down the food.

seonghwa smiled contentedly. _cute. i want to cook for you forever, and watch your reactions each time._


	7. Chapter 7

_i want to cook for you forever, and watch your reactions each time._

_i bet i’d never get sick of them._

“this is so good! what are you gonna cook for the next lesson?” hongjoong asked with his mouth full, and seonghwa chuckled. “i don’t know. it’s a surprise,”

“a surprise again? you have so many surprises today,” hongjoong swallowed his food, and gave him a bright smile. seonghwa felt heat rushing to his cheeks. he bit back a smile, awkwardly looking away from hongjoong. he felt as if his heart was going to burst out of his chest anytime too.

–

the next period was a free period, as their literature teacher couldn’t make it to class. there was a relief teacher in place of him, but he let them do whatever anyway, since the class was pretty much all caught up.

“hongjoong!” ah, this voice, how stressful.

“yes, mingi,” he deadpanned, not looking up at him. it strains his neck too much anyway.

“i heard you and seonghwa are friends now. is that true? it’s not just some excuse to-” “i’m good, mingi, really! i promise,” hongjoong cut him off, feeling a little annoyed. why did he care about him and seonghwa so much?

“okay, if you say so. that’s good, then,” mingi then pulled an empty chair next to hongjoong’s table and sat backwards on it. hongjoong didn’t really care about him and just let him be, and continued reading his literature textbook. the two sat in silence like that.

“h-hongjoong,” mingi finally broke the silence.

“what,”

“u-um… what if… you did nothing wrong, but your best friend keeps avoiding you?” mingi’s ears turned red, matching the colour of his sweater. his head was hung low when he asked that question.

“w-what?” hongjoong put his book down, placing all his attention on mingi. he raised his brow as mingi let out a frustrated sigh and messed up his hair.

“i did nothing wrong, but he keeps avoiding me! why? his replies are dry, he’s using a lot of excuses to avoid seeing me, he’s not even starting a conversation with me anymore!” mingi said this all at once, which made hongjoong raise both eyebrows.

“woah, who’s the ‘he’? yeosang? but you two were talking fine earlier… is it jisung? but you two aren’t even close…” hongjoong thought out loud, rubbing his chin as he did so. he obviously knew who the guy was, he was just trying to tease mingi. it was so obvious, that even a fool would know about his crush on yunho. he might even know of it already without having mingi to confess.

“ah, dumbass. help me with this, i’m so hopeless, ah!” mingi let out another frustrated groan, rubbing his head harder.

“you just called me dumbass though,”

“yeah, i was joking around, sorry. please help me,” mingi pleaded, clasping his hands together. hongjoong shook his head and sighed, _what a dumbass._

“how long has yunho been avoiding you?” hongjoong directly asked, turning his body sideways so that he was facing mingi.

“hey! it’s n-not y-yunho,” mingi stuttered.

“yeah right. answer my question,”

“fine, it was yesterday, when you and seonghwa started being lovey-dovey,”

“…”

“he just left for class super early, and he didn’t reply my texts at all. normally he would reply as soon as possible, and with more than three words, b-but now…”

“what did you do the day before? did you do anything that had pissed him off?”

_well… maybe. i don’t know._

–

tuesday evening.

mingi and yunho brought dinner back to their dorm and were silently enjoying their meal.

“mingi,” yunho suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

“mm?” mingi hummed back in response, lifting his gaze off his meal and shifting them into yunho’s chcolate brown eyes.

“y-you wanna go take a walk?” his voice wavered as he asked the question, stirring mingi’s heart strings up. “sure,” was all he said before throwing his gummy smile at yunho.

he wondered what yunho wanted to do? it was 8pm, and taking a walk around the dorm buildings… that was kinda weird. but he didn’t want to upset yunho, so he complied.

their dorm building, B, was a newer building and had five floors, compared to building A which only had three floors, so there was an elevator.

they reached the ground floor quickly, and headed to the field which had a rather nice view of the night sky.

“yunho, do you really think seonghwa and hongjoong are getting along?” mingi casually asked, walking with his hands in his jacket pockets. the nights were getting chillier as they entered the end of august.

“yeah. it seems believable,” yunho shrugged, and looked up into the dark, night sky. the air was cool, the surroundings were quiet. just the right atmosphere. _i wonder if i can say it today…_

“mingi-ah-”

“yunho, what if seonghwa chased hongjoong out again? i feel bad for saying this, but i can’t wait to see seonghwa acting up again, imagine him kicking hongjoong out…” mingi rambled on and on, sharing his thoughts about the two. he seemed to be very interested in them since yesterday. it wasn’t even his problem, why was he so nosy? yunho cursed at him internally, getting frustrated. he didn’t call him out on a walk to listen to all this!

“yunho? you good?” mingi had finally noticed that he wasn’t paying any attention to him. yunho stopped in his tracks, and turned his body to face mingi.

“mingi, i don’t get why you care about the two of them so much. you’re always talking about them!” yunho exasperated, a frown forming on his face.

“a-ah, i’m sorr-”

“it’s alright, there’s no need to apologise. i was the one who asked you to come out for a walk anyway,” yunho sighed, and turned around to head back to the dorm.

“oh, right! yunho, what did you want to say?”

“it’s nothing, forget it,” mingi jogged to catch up with him, feeling very apologetic. _he might’ve wanted to tell me something important!_

“yunho, please, if it’s something important, please tell me!” he placed a hand on yunho’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

“will you really listen?” he turned his head around, locking their gaze. his eyes were filled with so much emotions.

“of course!”

“song mingi, i like you. as in i want to date you. this isn’t just infatuation or anything. i have felt this way since the first year of middle school,” yunho confessed, not breaking eye contact with mingi for the entire time. they stayed like this, for a while, as mingi couldn’t find the right words to say.

the silence broke yunho’s heart, who thought mingi was probably disgusted. he shrugged his hand off his shoulder and strode away quickly. he didn’t want to hear his crush insulting him. that would crush his heart into dust.

mingi, who was dumbfounded, stood rooted to the ground after yunho left. _he… liked me? since middle school? til now?_

and here, mingi thought yunho was probably straight and he had no chance of dating him.

it all started last year, when the both of them started living together under one roof. mingi had noticed yunho’s small, cute habits, like how he always liked to take small sips from straws, and how he always had to brush his hair before he went to sleep.

despite being the clumsy one, yunho always took care of mingi, and he appreciated him for that. he was that kind of friend who would drop everything just to help you get along. he was also very gentle and patient with him, and never got angry at him once. he did everything carefully even the smallest of tasks–he was very responsible. an optimistic person, too. mingi thinks he will never have a breakdown.

not to mention, he was also very attractive… mingi started sweating.

“yunho!” silence. he looked around, but there was not a single soul around. oh right, he had already left!

“YUNHO!” mingi realised he had been standing still for 5 minutes. what a dumbass! he needed to tell yunho too! he needed to give him his answer! thus, he started sprinting back to the dorm, hoping he could catch yunho before he enters the elevator.

he turned a corner, and the elevator came into sight. its doors opened as yunho stepped in, and pressed the close button.

“YUNHO!!!” mingi shouted, which had caught yunho’s attention, but he couldn’t react in time, and the doors had already closed.

they lived on the third floor. how fast would the elevator go? would it be faster than him running up the stairs with his long legs?

in reality, he ran for what seemed like eternity, and finally reached the third floor, and sprinted to his dorm without taking a break.

he burst through the door, and caught sight of yunho just crawling into bed.

“j-jung yun…ho!” mingi panted, pushing the dood closed with his body and leaning against it, catching his breath.

yunho was surprised. he quickly pulled his blanket over his head, turning his body so that he was now facing the wall.

“y-yunho. don’t i-ignore me, please,”

“i just don’t want to hear you insulting me,” yunho mumbled, but it was loud enough for mingi to hear in their small room.

_“what?!”_

“are you deaf? i don’t want to hear you calling me disgusting, calling me a faggot, laughing at me! you already don’t return my feelings, don’t break my heart further!” yunho shot up on his bed, and faced him teary, but harsh eyes. he had shouted for the first time in a while.

“jung yunho, are you stupid?”

yunho broke into tears. “a-are you stupid? i just said i didn’t want to hear you insulting me-”

“i like you too, you idiot!”


	8. Chapter 8

**♡ - short chapter  
**

**♡ - more yungi!!**

_“i like you too, you idiot!”_

“w-what?” yunho softly stuttered as more tears flowed out of his eyes. he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. mingi… liked him too? but why? he was certain he had told him he’d never fall for a guy, much less his best friend whom he had known since elementary school. 

“i know this seems very unbelievable. but it’s true. i’ve liked you since last year,” mingi explained, as he approached the bunk bed. yunho was too shocked to move, and sat rooted to his bed. 

“m-mingi. i believe you. but i need some time to myself,” yunho said, which stopped mingi in his tracks. “a-ah? oh… alright. but promise me you won’t leave me or anything,” yunho nodded, and laid back down on his bed, wrapping himself up while mingi went to take another shower. 

–

“…mingi, are you dumb or dumb?,” hongjoong buried his head in his arms, sighing. “he’s ignoring you because he needs more time!”

“oh… but i thought he would still want to have meals with me…“

“mingi. it would be very awkward. maybe not for a dumbass like you, but just put yourself in his shoes,“ hongjoong explained, and patted mingi’s back. “wait for a few more days. he’ll look for you when he’s ready,“

the bell rang, and it was time for fourth period, math. hongjoong was excited to see seonghwa after a long time(only an hour had passed), and packed his things hastily. as he was about to leave, mingi stopped him, “promise me you’ll keep this a secret. please,” he softly said, and hongjoong patted his shoulder. “of course,”

–

seonghwa and hongjoong headed out for dinner in the evening, as usual. they bumped into yunho along the way, and mingi who was following a few steps behind.

“hey yunho!” hongjoong greeted, which startled yunho, causing him to fall a few steps back, colliding with the absent-minded mingi.

“a-ah, hey guys,” yunho awkwardly greeted, adjusting his balance. “i-i’ll go first if there isn’t anything else,” off he went, flustered. mingi, who was still in a daze, stood rooted to the ground until hongjoong waved his hand in front of his face. 

“hey mingi, you better get going! yunho already took off,” he teased, and dragged seonghwa away to find a seat before the cafeteria was full. yes, they ate dinner in the cafeteria. the park where they always went for lunch is always occupied when the sun goes down.

soon, a tray with two bowls of steaming noodles were set in front of them, and they started to munch on the soft, springy noodles.

again, seonghwa was observing hongjoong’s reactions when he ate. he felt like he was already full just by watching him eat.

on another table not too far from theirs, another tray with two bowls of steaming hot noodles were set down, along with two cans of soda.

“y-yunho–”

“o-oh look! we forgot the chopsticks. i’ll go get ‘em,”

off yunho went, awkwardly walking away to get chopsticks from the store and awkwardly walking back, keeping his head low. mingi was probably staring at him, thinking he was the dumbest person ever.

“yunho–”,

“wait, hol’ up, i forgot to get spoons,”

off he went again. the store holder was giving him weird looks. mingi decided to wait til they were back at the dorm so he could finally let it all out.

the two ate in awkward silence. the atmosphere was so tense, mingi hated it. previous meals with yunho were always lively, it was all smiles laughs. there was never a time they stayed silent. well, this is the first. even passers-by could sense the awkward atmosphere that was surrounding them.

just by watching mingi eat, you would think that he had not eaten for days. he just wanted to get back to the dorm as soon as possible so he could finally, and hopefully get yunho back to normal. he even prepared a speech for this epic moment.

“yunho, i’m done,” he announced, adding a tinge of cuteness in his voice. he had always been doing this with yunho without fail, and it just came out like that.

“oh. i still have half a bowl left,” surprisingly, yunho casually replied without any awkwardness.

“ahh, hurry up, yunho! old man,”

“excuse you, you literally shoved the noodles down your throat, pig,”

“excuse you? that was normal speed! you’re just slow,”

yunho glared at mingi while slurping on his noodles. “fine. you better wait for me,”

“of course,”

two tables away from them, sat two boys who were sighing at the scene. well, just one boy. “seonghwa, don’t you think yunho and mingi are a match made in heaven?”

“…i don’t know,“ seonghwa stopped slurping on his noodles, and looked up at hongjoong, who had propped his chin up, gazing at the yungi couple. his eyes were like those of a proud parent’s… and maybe a little… envious of them?

“i hope they get better soon,” hongjoong removed his hand from his chin and started on his noodles again. seonghwa nodded, and dug in too. somehow, he felt a little envious of yunho and mingi too.

–

##  _small theatre:_

**mingi:** what is there to be envious of?? (￢_￢;)

 **seonghwa:** i want to confess to hongjoong too!!!! (ノωヽ)

 **mingi:** you want him to give you the cold shoulder?

 **seonghwa:** …


	9. Chapter 9

_somehow, he felt a little envious of yunho and mingi too._

“let’s head back, shall we?” mingi said, after he noticed yunho had started to wipe his mouth with a tissue. he nodded without saying a word, getting up from his seat and started to walk to their dorm. mingi followed suit, walking behind yunho.

to them, it was an awkward walk. to bystanders, it was uncomfortable to watch. the scene looked like mingi was trying to rob or stalk yunho. mingi was literally staring at yunho’s head, from a distance of around 30cm away. how creepy is that? however, to bystanders like hongjoong, who knew the truth, he just wanted to bang his head on a wall.

_why, mingi, why?!_

“what’s wrong, hongjoong?” asked seonghwa, who had noticed hongjoong’s strained expression. he turned his head back to face seonghwa, giving him a reassuring smile. “oh, it’s nothing. just some… dumbass,” he facepalmed, sighing. “anyway, wanna start heading back?”

–

hongjoong entered the dorm after seonghwa, and headed straight to his desk. he had loads of homework to complete by tomorrow, and time was ticking away. he had no time to waste!

looking at hongjoong’s flying hands and messy desk, seonghwa shook his head and sighed. he had hoped to ask him about these strange feelings he’s had lately, like his accelerating heartbeat when he sees him being happy, and his newfound happiness whenever he sees him enjoying his food.

but then again, these questions were so lame. hongjoong probably doesn’t care. his workload was increasing day by day, he doesn’t even have the _time_ to care.

seonghwa messed up his hair, letting a soft groan escape his lips. _maybe he’ll ask him after he finishes his work later…_

“seonghwa,” hongjoong’s voice suddenly filled the quiet room, making him jump a little.

“y-yes?”

“can you help me with the new topic ms. lee taught in math? i don’t understand the concept,” asked hongjoong, scratching his head awkwardly. he felt kind of sorry towards seonghwa. he was always helping him out, with nothing in return.

seonghwa nodded and got down from the bunk bed, grabbing his chair and placing it beside hongjoong. the table itself was quite small, and the messy piles of papers and books made it look even smaller.

seonghwa tried to ignore how close he was to hongjoong, and started on his mini tutoring session. he tried to ignore how his elbow touched hongjooong’s whenever he wanted to scribble notes on his worksheet. he tried to ignore how hongjoong would always smile when he understood something. he tried to ignore how their faces were centimeters away when he faced him to ask a question.

in a nutshell, seonghwa almost couldn’t handle it. he was aldeady melting from the cuteness and little contacts here and there.

in the end, seonghwa managed to get hongjoong to understand the topic, and he bolted back up his bunk bed faster than sonic.

“woah, dude, you good?” hongjoong raised an eyebrow at seonghwa’s action, while he was thinking if he was too dumb for seonghwa to handle. he must’ve lost many braincells just by that short session, and he had to escape quickly.

“y-yes, i’m fine,” seonghwa replied, giving him a reassuring smile. meanwhile, he was actually crumbling inside. _how can he be so cute but fatal!!!_

“okay then,” hongjoong gave him one last look before turning back to his desk. he sighed, looking at the messy pile of assignments. he had to finish them by tonight!

–

it was already deep into the night when hongjoong put down his pen. he packed up and stretched, getting ready to go brush his teeth.

“h-hongjoong,” he stopped in his tracks, looking up the bunk bed to see seonghwa sound asleep. was he hearing things? _there was no way he could ever call my name in his sleep._

this was what he thought, until seonghwa suddenly shouted his name really loudly, and even sprung up from his bed.

hongjoong jumped onto the top bunk on reflex, and brought seonghws into his arms, rubbing his back. “i’m here, i’m here, hongjoong’s here,” he softly whispered into his ear.

“i-i dreamt t-that you… didn’t want to c-care about me a-anymore,” he stuttured while sobbing and hicupping mid-sentence, which hongjoong found very cute. it was rare that he got to see this side of seonghwa. it was completely different from the cold, emotionless seonghwa that he sees everyday. he likes this seonghwa very much. it makes him want to protect, love and care for him even more.

how could seonghwa ever have a dream like this? what was he thinking of?

“don’t cry anymore, seonghwa. i’ll never stop caring for you. how could i?,” he reassured, and pulled away from the hug, looking into seonghwa’s eyes. he held both of his cheeks in his palms, and wiped his tears away with his thumbs. _this scene is so familiar,_ hongjoong thought, and chuckled internally.

“r-really?”

“yss. i’m very sure,”

seonghwa dove into hongjoong’s embrace, hugging him tightly. he didn’t know why he felt so moved by his words. he just had this feeling that he could trust him, and he did. he was a hundred percent sure.

–

back in the yungi dorm, before all that happened.

“yunho,” mingi started, just after they stepped into their dorm.

“mingi,” yunho replied, trying not to become emotional or anything, proceeding to take out his homework and whatnot.

“um, i-i don’t want to, uh, rush you or anything, but, uh–”

“mingi. i’m sorry you had to go through all that,”

“w-what?”

yunho sighed, turning around to face mingi, who was still standing by the door.

“i was just shocked that you… returned my feelings. i didn’t expect you to. i even thought you were just playing along, trying to comfort me…” tears were threatening to fall at this point, and he tried hard to hold them back. he didn’t want to let mingi witness this part of him.

“no! yunho, i like you. i’m not joking around. i genuinely like you. i really, really, really, like you,” mingi said frantically, while yunho kep quiet.

worried, he went to yunho, and turned him around with both hands on his shoulders. he was met with a tear-stained face, which broke his heart into a million pieces.

“hey… don’t cry. if you cry then… i’ll cry to,” he softly said, whispering the last sentence.

“i’m thankful,” was all yunho said before breaking into tears, hugging mingi tightly. a few tears escaped his eyes as he hugged him bsck tightly.

“so… are we good now?”

“yes,”

“and… will you be my boyfriend?”

yunho let go of the hug. “what do you think? of course i will, idiot!”


	10. tumblr

hello. 

many of you have been leaving nice comments on this story, and for that i thank each and everyone of you so much! these comments and kudos mean so much to me. i feel so happy that many of you like and enjoy reading this. 

i made this note today to let you all know that this story is also on [tumblr](https://yeosanqtuary.tumblr.com/post/189312566158/gentle-breeze-ateez-short-story-seongjoong-in)! i'm not sure if i have ever mentioned this before, so i'm making this today. 

if anyone has a tumblr, then i think it would be easier to read there??? i mean idk. it's up to you! 

sorry for only saying this after nine chapters into the story. 

that is all.

\- juu :->


	11. Chapter 11

_yunho let go of the hug. "what do you think? of course i will, idiot!"_

\--

a night has passed, and it is now friday. physical education was the first period, so the students had to go to class in their gym clothes.

hongjoong woke up at 7am sharp, and did the necessary. he had noticed that his clothes were already prepared, and a smile crept up to his face unknowingly. he looked over to seonghwa, who had already finished showering, and was dressed in his gym clothes already. he was silently reading a book on his desk, paying no mind to hongjoong. it was quite strange. usually, seonghwa would ask if he had a good night's sleep and whether he had any dreams, but this time, he only greeted him with a single 'good morning'.

and what's weirder was that he was up earlier than usual, and even prepared hongjoong's gym clothes for him. he thought that seonghwa was just being nice, so he tapped his shoulder, and informed him that he was heading to the public bathroom.

without saying a word or lifting his head up, he nodded and continued reading his book.

soon, hongjoong was back from the shower, and seonghwa was still at his desk, reading.

"hey, seonghwa. did you sleep well?" he asked, trying to kill the awkward atmosphere in the dorm. if seonghwa wasn't gonna ask, then he will.

"mm," seonghwa mumbled with a nod, his head still buried in his book.

"had any dreams?"

"nope," again, head still buried in his book.

"seonghwa,"

"hmm?"

"look at me," hongjoong said with a stronger tone, to which seonghwa ignored. he grew more and more anxious as the seconds passed and nothing else other than silence was heard.

"seonghwa, please. what's wrong?" hongjoong asked nervously, afraid that something might've happened to him that he didn't know of, and that he was crawling back to his shell.

silence followed, and hongjoong inched closer to seonghwa.

the smell of his sweet, berry-scented body wash crept its way up seonghwa's nostrils as hongjoong moved closer and closer to him. his heartbeat increased along with every step hongjoong took. seonghwa's face was flushed, and the tips of his ears probably were too. hongjoong probably could've already noticed his ears at this point.

"oh my gosh, you're so red. are you sick?" hongjoong started to worry as has, indeed, noticed seonghwa's fully flushed face. hongjoong stuck his hand out to feel seonghwa's forehead for his body temperature, trying to confirm his guess, but before his hand could get in contact with his forehead, seonghwa had snatched it.

"hwa?" with a confused look on his face, hongjoong felt that his assumption might be correct. maybe he was really crawling back into his shell.

"a-ah... i'm sorry," seonghwa let go of hongjoong's wrist, and turned his body away from him, focusing on his book once more.

"seonghwa. is everything alright? you're weird today. i'm really worried. please tell me," hongjoong started to panic, thinking of all the things that could possibly happen to him. either he is really returning to his shell because someone had threatened him, or he's getting bullied, or–

"hongjoong, i'm really okay. please don't overthink. it's j-just... b-because of something stupid," seonghwa finally spoke up, turning around to look hongjoong in the eye, but failed to keep eye contact after two seconds or so.

"i'm not convinced. you seem fishy," he raised an eyebrow at his explanation. the way he avoided eye contact seemed fishy too. "please, tell me, seonghwa. i want to help,"

"b-but,"

"seonghwa. i trust you. you can do this. whatever problem it is, we can go through it together. you don't have to–"

"i just think that you look really hot in your gym uniform and i would really faint if i watched you play basketball in it!" seonghwa shut his eyes tight and exclaimed, mustering all the courage he could.

_he's gonna hate me for life now, how could i have told him that..._

after hearing this, hongjoong went... o.

seonghwa had called him hot. the same person who he thought was extremely cute and hot at the same time. had. called. him. hot.

the room returned to silence for a while, as hongjoong stood rooted to the ground, thinking about the compliment. while seonghwa sat rooted to his chair, thinking if he made a mistake.

the two remained like this, until someone knocked on their door.

"seonghwa, hongjoong hyung! let's walk to class together!" seems like it was yeosang.

hongjoong then snapped out of his thoughts, and shouted back to yeosang, agreeing to walk together.

"s-seonghwa, let's go get ready," he motioned for him to pack up his stuff, ans went to his own desk, only to find that his bag was already packed. _it must be seonghwa._

"t-thanks for helping me pack my bag," he awkwardly smiled to him, to which seonghwa replied with a little hum.

\--

the class started quickly. everyone seemed to know what to do. the teacher didn't seem to notice his presence anyway, and he hadn't really bonded with his fellow classmates ever since news about his roommate had slipped out. his only friends were jisung, changbin and minho whom he had first met.

coincidentally seonghwa's homeroom class had the same class slot as hongjoong's, so their class had always played basketball together. it was either students from each class come together to form a team, or they have a friendly interclass match. it was always fun. at least, not to seonghwa who didn't have many friends, and was feared.

today was very different and special for seonghwa. he was finally going to play basketball with his friends! yeosang was in his class too, followed by mingi and yunho. additionally, he can even get to see hongjoong playing in his gym uniform!

"hongjoong! come join our team!" changbin called from one end of the court, and his shout was followed by another from yunho who was standing at the other end, "hongjoong-ah! let's trash your class!"

this was very stressful.

he wanted to play with seonghwa, but at the same time, he wanted to support his fellow classmates.

"i'll just watch you all play..." he awkwardly smiled, and backed off to the bleachers.

"why not we play rock, paper, scissors to decide whose team he'll join?" jisung suggested, and the agreed. mingi sent seonghwa to represent their team. his opponent was minho.

"rock, paper, scissors!"

minho won. the match soon started.

hongjoong, as the self-claimed basketball prodigy he is, and one who is an avid fan of basketball/any sports anime, his skills were already god level. he could make the ball turn at any angle as he wish, and move at the speed of sonic the headgehog.

do not look down on him just because he is tiny. he has many hidden talents.

well... maybe not.

in the end, jisung and the rest never wanted to be teammates with him again.

\--

seonghwa wasn't feeling right. even though his team won, and it was quite funny seeing how hongjoong kept missing his shots after bragging about his god level skills, he was still very distracted from that incident in the early morning. hongjoong was 100% disgusted by that compliment. was their friendship not going to be longlasting? would they even... become lovers?

seonghwa was really hating himself now.


	12. Chapter 12

_seonghwa was really hating himself now._

if he had not avoided him in the first place, then all this wouldn’t have to happen. he wouldn’t be feeling shitty right now. he could have been enjoying the day, laughing with no worries. but no, his dumbass had to screw everything up. 

all the way through the second period, which was math, he had pulled a long face and stayed silent. hongjoong had stayed silent too, but it was for another reason. their original math teacher had fallen sick, so their lesson was taken over by an old lady, who was rumored to be super strict and naggy. turns out the rumors were true. hongjoong didn’t want to risk getting the both of them in trouble, so he has stayed silent the entire lesson, focusing on the rather boring lesson. 

hongjoong had no idea seonghwa had taken this the wrong way. and seonghwa had no idea he was taking this the wrong way.

well, the two of them are just fools in love. what can be done?

mingi, who was sitting diagonally in front of them, kept looking back at them and sighing. it was his turn to shake his head. 

\--

hongjoong started to notice that seonghwa wasn't as energetic as usual when they exited the classroom, making their way to the cafeteria.

"hey, joong. ya feel me yet?" mingi went up to the two figures, slinging his arm around the shorter's shoulder easily. mingi had followed along with them, since yunho asked him not to wait for him outside his class, which was a long way from their math class.

"what are you talking about? no way i would ever feel like you," hongjoong rolled his eyes and pushed his arm off playfully.

"sure thing. i bet you'd be coming to me for answers,"

"and why would i do that?"

"because you're a dumbass,"

the conversation continued as they ventured down the stairs, leaving an overthinking seonghwa all by himself.

the more he listened to them, the more he thought. the more he thought, the more flustered he got.

_hongjoong must be tired of me. that's why he would feel like mingi, who was tired of the math teacher. he would approach mingi for advice on how to break this friendship with me, and then we'd never talk again._

he heard hongjoong shout his name after a single tear rolled down his cheek, followed by a impact on his forehead, causing him to feel pain.

seems that he had bumped into a wall.

"seonghwa! are you okay?" hongjoong anxiously brushed up his bangs, checking his forehead for any bruises. as he leaned in to take a closer look, his breath fell onto seonghwa's face, causing his heart to pick up speed.

his previous emotions started to kick in, and the tap started flowing. hongjoong, who was shocked at the sudden outburst, took seonghwa in his embrace, and patted the taller's back.

"aigoo, it must hurt a lot. seong-ie, please be more careful next time okay? joong-ie will be worried. there, there, it's alright now," hongjoong comforted in a cutesy voice, hoping it would calm him down. but, he thought wrong. seonghwa cried even more, as his feelings became more mixed and messy than it already was.

at this point, there was a crowd forming nearby, watching the show. it was just so interesting to watch. the school's scary cool prince and the new transfer student! their personalities had totally changed! especially the scary cool prince's! he is actually crying! in! the! public!

hongjoong had noticed some people with their phones out, directed at them, probably recording. flustered, he asked mingi to help them get some snacks for lunch, and quickly lead the bawling seonghwa to their usual lunch spot.

\--

"h-hongjoong _._ i-i'm so sorry. i-i just f-feel so... frustrated," seonghwa apologises through his sobbing, digging his face in his palms. he probably looked like the ugliest person on earth right now, and was afraid to show his tear-stained face to hongjoong. another wave of tears released themselves as this thought flashed through his mind.

"you don't have to be sorry, hwa," hongjoong tried to take his hands away from his face, but seonghwa resisted. "calm down, hwa. it's alright. there's only you and me here," he assured, pulling him into his embrace, stroking his back and patting his head gently, playing with his hair as he did.

"i'm so sorry. i keep overthinking, joong. i can't stop. i know i'm being dumb, and you'd probably think i'm stupid or whatever. i don't know when this all started, but i said _that thing_ this morning, and then i kept overthinking your actions. i was so afraid that you'd leave me. god... this is all so dumb. i'm so sorry,"

seonghwa's hands left his face, and found their way around hongjoong's waist. he held them tightly, and sobbed into his chest.

"there, there,"

the two stayed like this until seonghwa started speaking.

he sniffled, looking up at hongjoong. he didn't know where that courage came from.

"i don't know what i want. this is my first time having a nice friend, a good friend, a caring friend. i don't know if i'm seeing you as a friend, or... _lovers,_ "

hongjoong was about to cry, too. but he resisted the tears, trying to stay strong for seonghwa.

"my heart races whenever i see you. i love your reactions whenever you taste my cooking. it makes me wanna cook for you forever... but thinking about that just makes me... feel anxious. maybe you don't feel the same, maybe you don't even want to be with me right now, but you're just here for the sake of it. if that's really true... then i'll-"

hongjoong widened his eyes, loudly cutting seonghwa off. "i! will! not! ever! think! like! that! please trust me, seonghwa, but none of your worries are true. and they will never be. i understand how you feel, really. i'm quite confused about my feelings too... but hearing you say this, i'm quite assured. i, too, also want to keep seeing you satisfied and happy face whenever you present your meals to me. i wanna protect you too, and shower you with happiness and... and love," he mumbled the last words, but it was still within hearing range. upon hearing this, seonghwa smiled.

"i'm glad... i really am. thank you, hongjoong. i'm really so thankful... thank you for transferring. thank you for accepting me. thank you for not listening to the rest... thank you for feeling this way," seonghwa lowered his head into hongjoong's chest once more, burying his head into his embrace.

"i must also thank you for accepting me into your life. for opening up to me. for being my roommate. for being warm with me. i don't really know what this feeling is, but i really wanna say i love you so much. right now. i love you to death,"

"... i love you too,"

and another round of sobbing starts, as hongjoong panics and tries to calm seonghwa down again.

_**[a/n: i'm so sorry i suck at these kind of emotional things!!!! i'm also very sorry for making y'all wait so long for such a short chapter 🥺👉👈 this "short" story is gonna end soon! prolly in a few more chapters. i'm also currently working on a woosan story, but of course i'm focusing on this first! pls let me know if there are any mistakes! thank you for reading owo uwu loves to y'all]** _


	13. Chapter 13

_and another round of sobbing starts, as hongjoong panics and tries to calm seonghwa down again._

\--

the school day ended, and many students made a beeline for the school gates, or to the dorm blocks. hongjoong and seonghwa were no exception. they squeezed into the crowded stairway, making their way up to the third floor, where their dorm resided. 

along the way, hongjoong had noticed that many students had turned around and gave them weird looks. he had known this would happen but didn’t give it much thought anyways. he looked over to seonghwa to check if he had noticed too, but instead, a smile lingered on his face, like he was in his own world. seeing this, hongjoong smiled to himself. it was great that seonghwa had opened up to him. he didn’t know if it was just him, but he felt that his ‘cold’ aura had disappeared. he felt and looked much warmer. he was even smiling to himself. 

“hwa,”

“mm?”

“you should smile like this more often,”

“oh…”

hongjoong chuckled at his small reaction and continued his way up the crowded stairs.

once they reached their dorm, hongjoong placed his bag on the floor beside his study table, and collapsed on his bed, whipping out his phone.

he decided to check the student website first, and as soon as the page loaded, their news was on the banner of the homepage.

_ **'ice prince' seonghwa and transfer student hongjoong! what is their relationship?!** _

hongjoong scoffed as he read the title of the article.

a video of them hugging was posted too, along with a picture of a crying seonghwa.

hongjoong still can't quite understand why the school is making a huge fuss. yeah, seonghwa might have a reputation that's not as bright, but he's still human, right? why can't he cry?

"i shouldn't have done that... i'm sorry. now everyone's talking about us," seonghwa, who was seated by his study table, apologised in a quiet voice, looking at hongjoong with a soft gaze.

"hwa, i told you not to apologise. it's not your fault. we're all human. we're able to cry," hongjoong returned the gaze, and went forward to give him a tight hug.

ah, how warm it was. how protective it felt. seonghwa felt that he could overcome any difficulty with it. 

"j-joong-"

"hongjoong-yah! open up!" a few loud knocks and a loud and rough voice interrupted their mini hugging session. the voice belonged to our dear song mingi.

annoyed, hongjoong took his time to open the door, and mingi rushed in, along with a flustered yunho.

"hongjoong, seonghwa, have you heard?" yunho exclaimed, looking as if he's just been chased by someone. 

"the headlines? yeah, we have," hongjoong answered nonchalantly, grabbing his chair out for either of them to sit on. seonghwa too gave up his chair for them and sat beside hongjoong on the lower bunk.

"why do y'all seem okay with it?? if it was me i'd be jumping," mingi asked, raising his eyebrows. "look, i'm so nervous, and y'all just sitting on the bed like,"

"like what? we're different people," hongjoong raised an eyebrow and gave him a look, "why'd you come all the way here? just spam the keyboard through text," 

"well, because we know who posted this, and i can have him take it down," yunho answered, and the two victims looked at each other, shocked. "what do we have to do for you to tell us?" seonghwa mindlessly asked in a hurry, earning a chuckle from yunho.

"no worries, friends. we don't need anything in return. or, we could be closer friends after this?" yunho grinned, showing his cheekbones, which are mingi's favourite part about him. 

seonghwa's eyes lit up, and nodded his head eagerly, like a child receiving their favourite candy. hongjoong smiled at the scene, his heart warming up at it. for the nth time, hongjoong swore that he'd stay together with seonghwa for the rest of his life. 

"thanks, guys! what could we ever do without you?" hongjoong gave yunho and mingi each a hug. "we are now a squad. plus yeosang. and yunho's helpful friend, maybe," mingi announced, placing a hand on his hip, and the other around yunho's shoulders. 

"good idea. seonghwa would love it. right, hwa?" 

"mm!" at this point, seonghwa was too happy to form words. a… squad!! with him in it! he was beyond cloud 9. maybe he was on cloud 100. maybe his happiness and excitement couldn't be described with words. or clouds. 

\--

surprising or not, the news article wasn't such a difficult situation, after all. with the thought of hongjoong staying by his side, seonghwa felt like he could overcome anything. he wasn't scared of any whispers and weird looks the students gave, he wasn't scared of anymore new or old rumors about him. he decided, he didn't have any time for that. for now, he wants to focus on his feelings for hongjoong so he could tell him as soon as possible. 

the one who posted it was the friend of yunho's friend, choi san. he was attentive enough to notice that hongjoong and seonghwa from his math class had a thing. he pitied seonghwa, and even wanted to befriend him from a long time ago, but he didn't know how to, since he was a very awkward person and didn't have many friends himself, even though a ton of girls had tried to hit him up. he was glad that hongjoong had transferred, so he wouldn't ever have to try to think of a good conversation starter to speak to seonghwa. he thanked the heavens for giving him this chance to help seonghwa, so he decided to ask his friend to delete the post, in return for 500 diamonds in a game. rip choi san's wallet. _/crying noises/_

after this whole fiasco ended, the weekends welcomed them. students were able to leave the school compounds for the whole weekend, but had to return before 11pm on sundays. 

seonghwa was excited. he wanted to go on a date with hongjoong, even though they hadn't really… started dating. so was this considered a date?

"joong," he called from the top bunk. it was 6.43am, by the way. coincidently, the two of them were early birds.

"mm?"

"if we aren't dating but go on a date, is it still a date?" he asked, shifting his position to the edge of the bed. he let his upper body hang down on the edge, so he could look at hongjoong. 

hongjoong was using his phone, but had put it down after hearing the question. he was quite baffled. after all, he had just woken up ten minutes ago, and was shocked after seeing the news of his childhood friend, wooyoung debuting as a soloist. he was shockedx2 after hearing seonghwa's question. 

"uh… yeah? it could be a date if you want it to be. why? you wanna go on one?" he put down his phone and sat up, reaching an arm out to ruffle seonghwa's messy hair. 

"mhm! let's go to the movies! and then to the arcade! or the karaoke!" seonghwa jumped down from the top bunk, and sat beside hongjoong, bouncing excitedly as he suggested each location. he really reminded hongjoong of a kid going on his first trip to the zoo, or the amusement park. just any place in general. 

"sure. we can go anywhere you want,"

"really?"

"really. i don't mind as long as i'm with you," 

"same here! i'm happy as long as i'm with you too!" 

_damn it… why do you have to be so cute…_

hongjoong almost can't take it. be wanted to give seonghwa the biggest and fattest smooch on the lips, and ask him to be his. but he can't. they had agreed to give each other time, and he didn't want to rush things, and even worse, ruin things. that would be the last thing he ever wanted to do. 

"alright then. how about we head to the movies, then to the arcade? we can have karaoke another time, i need to head back home," hongjoong patted seonghwa's head as he spoke. 

"oh… you have to go back?" damn, hongjoong could _literally_ see seonghwa's ears droop like a puppy's. 

"mhm. i have to visit my parents," there was silence for a while, as seonghwa thought of an answer. 

"oh!" a lightbulb dinged inside hongjoong's head, "you could come stay over!" 

"can i?" 

"totally! my parents would be more than happy. they've been worrying about me trying to make friends, so bringing you back would be nice," he smiled gently, playing with seonghwa's hair. 

"okay then! we should start packing our things!" 

hongjoong had never felt so many butterflies erupt in his stomach as he watched seonghwa run around the dorm, looking for his things. 

dang, he really wanted to kiss him.


	14. Chapter 14

_dang, he really wanted to kiss him._

–

seonghwa was as lively as ever. he finished showering in 5 minutes(did he wash off all the soap though), and was bouncing back to their room to dress up without waiting for hongjoong like he usually did. that resulted in a clueless hongjoong shouting for seonghwa in the public bathroom for five minutes, walking around looking at every empty cubicle for any traces of him. only then did he realise how dumb he looked when a kind student told him that seonghwa had already left 10 minutes ago. damn, how long did hongjoong take in the shower? 

he gathered his things hurriedly and rushed back to their dorm, walking in to hear seonghwa’s singing. he was sitting on his chair with his back faced to the entrance and didn’t seem to realise someone had stepped in.

it seems like he was singing ‘dive’ by jooyoung. seonghwa’s melodious voice floated in the air around the small space, filling hongjoong up. he could feel his heartfelt emotions as he sang each lyric. even without the melody, he could hit each and every note perfectly and effortlessly. hongjoong stood rooted to the place, completely swoon by seonghwa’s singing. (does this paragraph make sense hhh)

as he sang the last of the song, he had turned around opening his eyes. he sprung up from his chair with full force, knocking it down. “w-w-w-what are y-you doing here?!” he stuttered from shock, placing his hands behind the table for support. hongjoong was startled from the sudden action and jumped back in shock.

“u-um i just finished showering… and entered… and you were singing…” he slowly explained, telling half the truth. he did NOT just finish showering.

seonghwa’s expression was a mixture of shock and embarrassment as he gulped, staring straight at hongjoong, thinking of a way to reply to his statement. obviously, he would be in the dorm. this was _his_ dorm too, after all. why should he need to have a reason to be at _his_ own dorm?

furthermore, it was kinda seonghwa’s fault too, for not expecting hongjoong to be back anytime. he was even sitting with his back faced to the door, damn it. he should’ve known better than to do something risky like that.

“s-seonghwa? are you angry? did you not want me to hear that? sorry… but it’s okay, i won’t tell anyone. never. i promise,” hongjoong shuffled closer to seonghwa, and reached his hand forward to pat his head. “sorry for not knocking when i came in. you must have been startled,”

_i do not deserve hongjoong!!!!!!!!_

–

a while after a huge amount of apologies and lolling around, the two youths were on their way to the movies. they picked a place that was nearby hongjoong’s residence. it wasn’t only because they could travel home smoothly, but that particular district was a huge place. it had everything a teenager ever wanted in their lives. karaoke shops, arcades, shopping malls equipped with theatres, affordable eateries and an abundance of fast food places. not to mention, there was a street well-known for its night market. in the day, little shops would sell cute stationeries, aesthetic clothing and other things, while in the night, those shops close for the day, and the night market comes to life.

in a nutshell, hongjoong’s district was a tourist attraction. and that’s not even the whole of the district.

it was 11 am when the boys had reached the shopping mall. it was already buzzing with people, mostly teens. they made their way up to the top floor where the cinema was located. it occupied the whole floor and had many more choices of movies and snacks, thus this particular cinema was frequented by many, young or old.

seonghwa wanted to watch a horror movie, which was fine by hongjoong. he had heard of it, and it was quite the hot topic among yunho, mingi and yeosang. the poster didn’t look _too_ scary(not that he was scared), so he agreed casually. he didn’t know what else to watch anyway since he wasn’t much of a movie fan. if you added up all the times he watched a movie or actually _paid_ attention, it was only once or twice a year. that was how bad he was at movies. or even dramas. heck, he’d rather watch youtube or study.

on the other hand, it was seonghwa’s first time at the movies. he had always downloaded movies on his laptop or watched them at home as a kid, so he didn’t have a single clue how cinemas worked. he went to the snacks counter to order for tickets, and in a flurry, ordered the priciest menu on the menu, which was an XXL size popcorn along with two large sodas, two medium hot dogs and a plate of nachos with cheese dipping. at that time, hongjoong had gone to the washroom and asked seonghwa to purchase the 11.30 pm tickets to save time. boy, you should’ve seen his face when he spotted seonghwa.

after the whole fiasco, they finally entered the showing room with their hands full. luckily, seonghwa chose seats that were nearer to the back, so they easily found them. hongjoong heaved a sigh of relief after setting the drink and nacho cheese box on his lap. 

“you’re finishing all of this if i can’t, hwa,” hongjoong whispered, leaning over so that seonghwa could hear. however, all seonghwa heard was the beating of his own heartbeat as hongjoong leaned against his arm as he whispered into his ear. both of his actions sent shivers down his spine as if his spine hadn’t shivered enough already from the cold room.

he nodded nervously, playing with the hot dog wrapping. after hongjoong had returned to his normal sitting position, he heaved a sigh of relief, and tried focusing his mind somewhere else. as if it were all planned out, the movie started rolling, and he had his eyes glued on the screen.

the movie plot was a typical one, where some tragic and supernatural incident would occur in an old house, and some broke family would move in due to the cheap price. and of course, shit happens.

the early stage of the movie was peaceful… until that one woman dressed in the white dress appeared in the backyard. the youngest kid had seen it, but of course, his parents, who were stressed out because of their bankruptcy had paid no attention when he voiced out to them.

seonghwa kinda felt the kid in a way. his parents would always dismiss him when he went to speak to them after they had returned home from work late at night. hongjoong had kinda thought of seonghwa when he watched that scene, too. he let his mind drift away to how he wouldn’t let seonghwa feel like that ever again whenever he was with him.

as his thoughts led to another and another, his mind was far away from the movie even though he had his eyes peeled on the screen. he got the shock of his life as the female ghost popped up on the screen, with bleeding eyes and all.

hongjoong immediately grabbed seonghwa’s arm with such a strong grip that gave seonghwa the shock of _his_ life. he let out a small shout, and another when hongjoong shifted his hands down to his palm, interlocking their fingers. by now, seonghwa had already turned his head to look at hongjoong with shock, and also, disbelief. hongjoong wad actually scared of these kinds of things? a-and most importantly… he’s holding _my_ hand? seonghwa froze. he didn’t know what to do. should he comfort him? should he just let him be? 

while he was in the midst of panic, there was another jumpscare which really caught him off-guard, scaring the hell out of him once again. he let out yet another shout and clutched onto hongjoong’s hand which was atop his own, and buried his face in his shoulder. this tiome, hongjoong wasn’t really shocked by the jumpscare, so he didn’t really have much of an reaction to it. he was just, surprised at seonghwa. he didn’t know that seonghwa was actually scared of these kinds of things. 

you see now, the tables have turned. 

“hwa, it’s okay now. the ghost said bye,” hongjoong leaned down and whispered, while rubbing his head with his free hand. 

“j-joong,“ all of a sudden, seonghwa sat up, tightening the grip on hongjoong’s hands, and adding his other hand to the stack. 

“i’m okay, not scared,“ he whispered, keeping his eyes on their hands, silently thanking that it was dark, so hongjoong wouldn’t be able to see his red cheeks.

“hmm? you’re not scared?”

“yes. not scared. hwa is not scared of this!”

hongjoong giggled, and continued to rub his head. “it’s okay to be scared, hwa. i won’t laugh,”

“okay, joong. but i’m really not scared,”

“fine, fine. you’re not scared,“

the two giggled, and leaned against each other. they’ve probably missed out half the movie, but that’s okay. they were together in each other’s warmth, at the back of the cold cinema.


	15. Chapter 15

**♡ - mature content, but not really mature, but still kind of mature, so i'm putting this little warning here. it isn't a lot though**

_they were together in each other’s warmth, at the back of the cold cinema._

\--

the two almost-boyfriends walked out of the cinema hand in hand, and on each of their faces were satisfied smiles. the janitor who was standing by the entrance looked at them weirdly. everyone who was exiting looked petrified, or either had red eyes from the crying, but the two of them were actually smiling. happily. that horror movie was praised for their scary jumpscares and horrifying plot. were they watching the same movie as the others? the janitor shook his head and went along doing his job. _youngsters these days. might not even be watching the movie..._

afterwards, hongjoong dragged seonghwa to the arcade, which had just opened its door to business. hongjoong had done some research beforehand, and this particular arcade is said to have one of the cheapest prices and boasts a huge variety of games. hearing this, he immediately decided to bring seonghwa here, without looking up other arcades near the mall.

it was only a stone's throw away from the cinema, and the huge arcade signage was in sight after a few steps.

"woah, this place is huge!" seonghwa exclaimed in awe, gaping at the many colourful machines in the dimly lit place.

like a typical arcade, it had all the necessary, such as basketball, shooting and car racing games. hongjoong spotted a photo booth in the corner of his eye and dragged seonghwa there without hesitation.

"oh? it's a photo booth!" seonghwa exclaimed, running towards it as soon as he saw it. "joong! let's try this!" he turned around, gesturing him to come over, and pulled open the little curtain, stepping inside the small cubicle.

hongjoong chuckled at his actions and followed him inside. once they were inside, an automated voice welcomed them to the photo booth.

"welcome to photonx photobooth! please insert 30 credits to start!" hearing this, hongjoong pulled out a game card which he had bought a few months earlier when he came with his old friends. he had topped up a huge amount of credits into the card, seeing that the price was good. literally just pay 4 dollars for a whole 100 credits, who wouldn't miss it? thus, he paid 12 dollars and got 300 credits. luckily they didn't have an expiry date.

he happily tapped the card onto the terminal, and a typical, upbeat claw machine beat started to play. they took the photos quickly but took a long time adding stickers and other stuff to them. they ended up spending 30 minutes in that small cubicle, debating on which sticker they should use and on whom.

hongjoong sighed as he left the cubicle, waiting for the photos to be printed out. on the other hand, seonghwa excitedly jumped out of the cubicle and kept his eyes on the little hole where their photos would come out from.

they were two different moods.

"joong, look! we're so cute! you're so cute! i'm so cute! but you're cuter! i love this so much! i'm gonna keep this in my phone case!" he exclaimed, jumping around, holding the two photo strips.

hongjoong felt something from that...

he smiled, taking his photo strip and placing it behind his phone case too.

and off they went, exploring the depths of the arcade. 

hongjoong's game card lasted them for endless competitions in basketball, car racing and mario kart all afternoon, and stopped only when seonghwa's stomach started to grumble. their only lunch was those snacks seonghwa mistakenly bought at the cinema, and he was quite surprised he could last a whole afternoon with only those snacks.

however, this wasn't what hongjoong had thought. he felt guilty for forgetting about getting lunch before they came to the arcade. he didn't really feel hungry often and was actually quite full after the snacks, which explains why he forgets to take his meals regularly, for example, right now.

“ah, i’m beat!“ exclaimed seonghwa, who had collapsed on a small stool by a game machine. 

“let’s go eat, then. i bet you’re starving by now,“ hongjoong guiltily suggested, looking down to seonghwa’s hands that were resting on his knee. without waiting for him to agree or even speak, hongjoong lowered his hand and hooked his pinky with seonghwa’s, and began walking. seonghwa stood up immediately and followed behind hongjoong’s lead, letting him bring him anywhere he wanted. 

seonghwa looked down at their connected pinkies and giggled to himself. at that moment, he felt like the luckiest human alive.

\--

they had decided to return home right after they had their linner(or dunch, if you must) since they agreed that they were already quite exhausted. hongjoong's house was located a few bus stops away from the mall, so they reached his street quickly.

seonghwa had expected hongjoong to live in an apartment complex like he did, but he lived in a small, two-storey house. it wasn't as huge, flashy and outstanding like the other houses on the same street and opposite. it gave off a warm, cosy and homey feeling that the others didn't have. its walls were painted beige, and there were decorations that seemed to be made from scratch hanging outside on their porch. seonghwa liked it very much, thinking that it suits hongjoong's personality a lot.

"mom, i'm home!" hongjoong shouted as he stepped into the empty living room, with seonghwa nervously stepping in behind him.

with the dull surroundings and silence, hongjoong assumed his parents had gone out for a date or were busy with work, which was very unlikely.

he sighed and took off his shoes, placing them inside the small cupboard, on the top shelf. seonghwa followed suit and was placing his shoes on the bottommost shelf when hongjoong placed his hand atop seonghwa's and moved his shoes up to the empty spot beside his own. seonghwa smiled shyly at his actions, rubbing the back of his head.

"j-joong, y-you can let go of my h-hand now," seonghwa stuttered in a low voice. hongjoong was still holding onto his hand as he was getting them slippers to wear. he intertwined them after seonghwa had spoken.

seonghwa's heart accelerated as every second went by, his palms getting sweatier as his heart accelerated.

"hmm? why?" hongjoong turned around after he found extra slippers and was facing seonghwa now. the sun had already started setting, and the pretty warm colour escaped through the window, illuminating hongjoong's facial features. he had squinted his eyes a little due to the sunlight, and his rosy lips were slightly parted, showing his front teeth. his fluffy bangs fell on his eyebrows, covering them slightly.

he looked so attractive under all that sunlight, and seonghwa felt like he was back in their dorm a few days ago, the first time he thought hongjoong was attractive as heck.

he felt like he was falling in love again.

_again?_

"i-"

"here, wear these," hongjoong released their intertwined fingers, and gently placed a pair of white, fur slippers by seonghwa's feet.

"t-thank you,"

"do you wanna take a shower first?"

"o-okay,"

seonghwa slipped his feet into the soft slippers and followed hongjoong upstairs to his room.

his room was very simple and clean. it was like every other room, a bed with white sheets, a large desk, a cupboard and a shelf with trophies, medals and other decorations, like figurines.

seonghwa placed his bag beside hongjoong's chair and went to look at the shelf.

"wow, you placed first in the 100m race? and even got first in the whole cohort?" he gaped at all the different achievements and sighed to himself, who had barely any trophies or medals.

"haha, that was all back in middle school! i barely had any in high school,"

"better than me, at least!"

seonghwa had ventured to his desk, which had a few framed photos of his embarrassing childhood.

"hey, stop looking at them. you're making me shy," hongjoong panicked, and rushed to block seonghwa from looking at the photo frames. he was standing with his back against the table, flailing his arms around to evade seonghwa's attempts to get past him.

"c'mon, i'll get to see them later when you're in the shower anyway!" seonghwa laughed and tried to push hongjoong's arms away. he leaned forward to try to grab a frame, but his foot slipped.

seonghwa regained his balance by grabbing the sides of the desk with both arms, and at the same time trapping hongjoong in between them. their faces were a few centimetres away, and he felt hongjoong's warm breath on his face.

seeing hongjoong this close sparked something in seonghwa. surprisingly, he was neither nervous nor shy and had a sudden burst of courage that he had no idea where it came from.

"you're so much more attractive when you're up close,"

"s-seonghwa-*

"you're so kind and caring. always looking out for me, even though you're quite clumsy. your hugs are always so warm, it makes me feel protected and safe. i never want to be apart from you, i want to be with you, always,"

"i-i... me too, hwa. me too. i don't think i can go a day without seeing you. damn, i don't think i can even bear being away from you for a day," hongjoong looked up into seonghwa's dark brown eyes that were staring into his own.

"hongjoong, i... i really like you,"

seonghwa snaked an arm around hongjoong's waist and leaned in, closing the gap between them. immediately, hongjoong's mind went haywire as the second he felt seonghwa's soft lips land on his. his tongue gently slid through the seam of his lips, easily entering hongjoong's mouth. seonghwa's tongue explored every nook and cranny of his mouth and hongjoong felt like his mind was breaking away from his consciousness, driving him out of control. the way seonghwa sucked on his lips occupied his senses, feeling like he was infiltrating him, invading every inch of his body.

hongjoong's arms found themselves around seonghwa's slim waist, holding on tightly, feeling like his legs were about to fail any second.

as if seonghwa had read his mind, he broke the kiss and carried hongjoong to his bed, placing him down gently and scrunching up the neat sheets. he took ahold of hongjoong's wrists and held them up, pinning them by his ears.

"hongjoong, i like you. i really like you. i like you a lot. i like you very much. i think i love you, too,"


	16. Chapter 16

_"hongjoong, i like you. i really like you. i like you a lot. i like you very much. i think i love you, too,"_

“s-seonghwa, i-i,” hongjoong was cut off again, his mouth once again invaded by seonghwa. all those thoughts about wanting to protect and give him all the love seonghwa deserved was suddenly replaced with ones such as wanting to be protected and loved by him instead.

his kisses made him feel safe and sound, it made him feel as if nothing could ever come in between them, he felt like they could go through everything and anything together.

it was unknown for how long they’ve made out for, it was only when hongjoong started to feel out of breath and tried to gather all his strength to push seonghwa away. look, he was a strong man, no lies. but he just couldn’t push seonghwa away at that point of time. the man he likes a lot had just confessed and kissed him. how could he have enough strength to push him away? facts only, no excuses.

“s-seunnnmmmmm,“ hongjoong tried to speak but was once again silenced by seonghwa, who was now awarded the title, king of kisses(only for hongjoong).

after much effort, hongjoong finally succeeded in pushing him away.

“s-s-seonghwa!“ he exclaimed, after sucking in a huge breathe.

almost immediately after he did so, seonghwa went in for another round again, and hongjoong decided to just give up and let him have his fun. for now.

\--

they finally broke it off, when hongjoong first heard a shout from outside. his strength seemed to return as he was feeling super anxious that they would get busted by one of his family members, so he hit seonghwa’s chest real hard.

“h-hwa, i think my mom’s back! stop fooling around!“ hongjoong scolded, hitting his chest again, but without as much strength as before.

“really? but i didn’t hear anything. are you trying to escape my kisses again?“ seonghwa had sat up now and carried hongjoong to sit on his lap. he pouted, circling his arms around hongjoong’s small waist. “do you not like it? did i overdo it? i’m sorry...” he rested his head on hongjoong’s shoulder and tightened the hug.

“no! not at all, hwa! i really heard my mom! let go for a bit, i’ll go check,“ hongjoong chuckled and patted seonghwa’s head, then his arm to signal him to let go.

“fine...”

just as hongjoong was about to go open his door, it was opened instead. oh boy, hongjoong had never exercised his vocals in such a way in a long time.

“m-mom! what are you doing? almost scared me to death!“ he dramatically placed a hand on his chest. seonghwa was sitting on his bed, silently laughing at the scene.

“why, can’t i come see my darling who i’ve not met for a year?“ hongjoong’s mom chuckled and entered the room, her eyes finally landing on another person other than her son.

“oh my gosh! who’s this dashing young man? is he your friend? did you bring him over from one of your weird underground gatherings?“ his mom exclaimed, and hit hongjoong’s back. “i told you not to bring over anyone from that place!”

“mom, can you please calm down and let me explain?“ hongjoong rolled his eyes stretching an arm to his back and rubbing the place where he was hit. “he’s my roommate from school! his parents are barely home during the weekends, so i invited him to come stay over. and besides, does he look like he’d go to the cafe? plus, i’ve quit going to that place for a while now,”

“oh, alright then. sorry young man. have fun while you’re here! if hongjoong ever tries to bully you, then come to me! i’ll make sure to cut his allowance by 75%!“

“oh my gosh, mom! just-please go ahead and do whatever you were planning to do,“ hongjoong rolled his eyes again, and pushed his mom out of the room, sighing.

“sorry about that,” he awkwardly walked to his bed and plopped down beside seonghwa.

“the underground-what's that supposed to mean?”

“oh, the underground? it was just an underground cafe i used to go to, that’s all! nothing to worry about,“ he chuckled and stood up again, picking up his bag and unpacking his stuff.

“hongjoong,“

“hmm?“

“it’s not just an underground cafe,“

“then, what do you think it is?“

“i don’t think it’s as simple as that,“

“seonghwa, it’s really just an underground cafe. i used to perform there all the time and my mom didn’t like it, or any of the friends i made there. but it was the only place i felt comfortable showcasing my music, along with my friends who performed alongside me. it was a healing place,“ a small smile appeared on hongjoong’s face, but it soon disappeared.

“but something happened last year. the boss was charged with some drug case and no one could, or was willing to take over the business. so, it just ended like that,“

there was a short pause.

“someone just bought the place recently. i heard they were gonna open a bar with a similar name,“

seonghwa stood up from the bed and walked towards hongjoong, snaking his arms around his waist.

“i’m sorry, joong. i thought you were hiding something from me,“ he nestled his chin on hongjoong’s shoulder. turning his head to peck his cheek.

hongjoong chuckled, patting seonghwa's head. "it's okay. i understand,"

the two stayed like that for a while.

"you're cute when you're jealous,"

"not cuter than you when you're shy,"

hongjoong pushed seonghwa away and burst out laughing. "me? shy? hahahaha!"

"you were so shy when i kissed you. i could even smell it," seonghwa teased, leaning against his desk.

"oh, you want another round?"

"you bet,"

hongjoong giggled and didn't hesitate to close the gap between them. "to answer you earlier, i like you too," hongjoong murmured when they broke the kiss, closing his arms around seonghwa's neck.

"what was that? i couldn't really hear you," seonghwa smirked as he teased hongjoong.

"i like you too! let's date. be my boyfriend," hongjoong looked into seonghwa's eyes with the gentlest look ever, his lips forming the softest smile ever, his voice showering seonghwa with the sweetest honey.

"of course. i wanna protect you, care for you and make me smile like you did. i wanna do more with you, i wanna go through everything together with you!" he gushed, burying his head in hongjoong's neck.

hongjoong laughed. "mhmm. me too. let's do a lot of things!"

seonghwa looked up into hongjoong's gentle, brown eyes and pecked his forehead, nose and cheeks before bending down to connect their lips.

i could never put the amount of joy and excitement i feel when i'm with you into words.

i'm so glad you came to me.

i'm so glad you decided to listen to me.

i'm so glad you existed.

\--

##  **END**

**_[a/n: thank you all so much for staying until the very end! i feel like this chapter isn't really satisfying. i'm very sorry if you feel this wayㅠㅠ but don't worry! i will be writing extras, so please look forward to those!]_ **


	17. extra 1

"yeosang! you forgot your notebook!"

"ah, i don't need that!" shouted yeosang as he frantically wore his socks and shoes, slamming the door shut. in his used-to-be empty dorm after he left, was a smiling boy sitting by a desk opposite yeosang's.

"sigh. i hope it really isn't important," he shrugged and lifted himself up from the swivel chair he had bought from home. he leisurely picked up the notebook and skimmed through the contents.

meanwhile, yeosang was not-so-leisurely running to his classroom. he had woken up late that morning and it was all the new boy's fault. he was a first year student with a ridiculous amount of belongings. the new boy had begged yeosang to help arrange his stuff, thus he didn't have a good night's sleep. turns out he was a young master from a rich family who decided he needed to learn to be independent.

moreover, that useless young master didn't even bother waking him up, even though he knew damn well he had morning class and had even woke up way earlier. what kind of selfish roommate did he get? just thinking about this made him roll his eyes for the nth time that morning.

luckily, he made it to class on the dot. he was sweaty, smelly and irritated. he didn't even get the chance to shower. he could've showered last night, but he didn't like going to the public bath that late. it was scary. who knows which bully/gang would be up wilding?

he groaned as he sat down and started to take out the necessary materials from his bag, but realised he didn't bring his notebook with him.

"OH MY GOD!" he shouted, which drew the attention of yunho and mingi, who were indulging themselves in a conversation at the back of the classroom.

"oh hey, yeosang. what's the matter?" mingi was the first to approach him.

"wtf- i forgot to bring my notebook! ugh, that stupid choi jongho! i'm gonna make sure he regrets moving to the dorms-" yeosang continued to complain, while yunho's and mingi's mouths dropped open.

"what? that choi jongho? that rich young master choi? jong? ho?" yunho exclaimed, which drew much more attention to them. yeosang didn't like the attention and shut up immediately, dismissing the two of them.

"ahh forget about it. just... let me use some of your blank paper," he impatiently stretched his hand out, waiting for either yunho or mingi to give him what he asked for.

both of them rushed to their seats immediately and whipped out enough blank papers for yeosang to last through the whole day. they knew that if he didn't get enough sleep the night before, he'd wake up the next day and become a whole new scary person. an impatient, foul yeosang. and we all don't like that yeosang.

"let's get him strawberry milk later," mingi whispered after they handed yeosang the paper and had retreated back to their spot at the back of the classroom.

"yeah, let's get him his whole lunch. i hope he would be less grouchy afterwards," sighed yunho. mingi was about to speak again, but was interrupted by someone who had entered their class, shouting.

"kang yeosang! i think you really need this notebook," lo and behold, it was choi jongho, dressed in pajamas and waving a black notebook in his hands.

"uh-oh," yunho whispered, grabbing mingi's hand.

yeosang just stared at jongho in disbelief.

"what, do you need it or not?"

"yes, yes, yes, thanks mr choi, you can stop being a clown now," yeosang had ran up to him and whispered into his ear. he snatched his notebook from him and closed the door without waiting for his response.

however, jongho the clown had pulled the door open again. "kang yeosang! i'll come by and get you later for lunch,"

"no need! i'm having lunch with my friends!" yeosang closed the door.

jongho appeared through the door again. "i don't care! don't you dare run from me!"

yeosang can't believe his eyes and ears.

\--

the classes yeosang had before lunch were all in the same room. he sat on the same seat and watched as students came and go as each period bell rang. 

by the time the class before lunch had finished, yeosang had forgot about jongho’s request. he had paid full attention in the confusing math class, since he needed to pass the math exam or else his folks back at home would most probably kick him out. 

yeosang took his time packing his stuff, had a few conversations with his classmates and cleaned the whiteboard. by the time he exited the classroom, 15 minutes had already passed. 

“hey, kang yeosang! what took you so long? c’mon, i’m hungry, let’s go!” it was jongho. he had suddenly appeared around the corner whilst shouting, almost giving yeosang a heart attack. 

“no one asked you to come!“ yeosang pushed jongho away and went down the stairs. he turned around halfway and pointed his index finger at jongho. “and you forgot the hyung,”

“yeosang hyung, wait for me!” jongho rushed down the stairs and grabbed yeosang’s arm. “let go! i’m going to go meet my friends!” he shook jongho’s arm off and contiunued down the next flight of stairs. 

“then let’s go meet your friends together. i don’t mind earing with them,“

“no! stop following me!“

“or do you not have any friends and you’re actually a loner?“

“i hope you trip and fall!“

yeosang didn’t bother responding to jongho anymore, so he just followed behind him quietly. 

when they reached the canteen, yeosang spotted his friends immediately. both couples were doing couple things, so yeosang didn’t feel like joining them. he went to queue for food and jongho followed suit.

he followed yeosang to an empty table for two. confused, he looked around, searching for yeosang’s friends. 

“where are your friends, hyung?“

“i don’t want to join them-,“

“so i was right-you’re actually a loner and this is just an excuse!“ jongho gasped dramatically. “it’s okay, i’ll be your friend! you don’t have to keep lying to me!”

“no, i wasn’t-“

“yeosang, what are you doing? oh wait, he must be your new roommate,“ it was hongjoong and seonghwa. 

“hi, i’m hongjoong and this is seonghwa! we’re yeosang’s friends! please take care of him,“ hongjoong didn’t hesitate to introduce himself. 

“hello! nice to meet you two hyungs! i’m choi jongho,” he stood up and bowed to the both of them politely.

“why didn’t you join us at the table? it’s large enough to fit one more,” hongjoong asked, smiling. 

“i... um...” yeosang couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. if he explained, then seonghwa would blame himself for the rest of his life. 

“ah it’s alright, you don’t have to explain, we understand,“

yeosang could only sigh. 

“we’ll get going now, see y’all later!“ they bid their farewell and left the two. 

“oh, so you do have friends,“ jongho smiled whilst munching on his rice. 

“yes, i do, you idiot,“ yeosang rolled his eyes for the nth time that day. “i just didn’t want to sit with them because they’re being too couple-y,”

“ah, i see. why didn’t you tell me earlier?” yeosang wanted to die. 

he sighed and continued to slurp his noodles. 

\--

“hey, yeosang! i heard you didn’t want to sit with us earlier because you wanted to spend time with your new roommate! didn’t you dislike him?“ it was an hour before school ended and mingi managed to chance upon yeosang in the washroom. 

yeosang sighed. “no, i didn’t! i just couldn’t explain to hongjoong right then and there because seonghwa was around,“

“what? why? do you have something against seonghwa?” mingi looked like he was about to fight. 

“no, calm down, karen. it was because i couldn’t manage to finish my food if i sat beside too couples,” 

“oh. okay then,”

“yeah. so y’all need to stop thinking i want to spend time with jongho! he’s the most annoying person i’ve seen,” yeosang fumed, crossing his arms. 

“oh, so the most annoying person isn’t me anymore?“

“ugh, shut up. i’m leaving,”

“oh yeah, i got you strawberry milk. do you want it?“

“no!“

\--

_**[a/n: this is just a silly encounter between yeosang and jongho! it will be continued in the next chapter, so look forward to it!]** _


	18. Chapter 18

yeosang would always head back to his dorm after school and start on his homework immediately like the hardworking boy he is. but today, he went to the park behind the school and sat on a table bench(is that what it’s called) that was under a tree. he sighed as the cool breeze blew on his face gently. his favourite season, autumn, was just round the corner. some leaves on the tree had already begun to have a noticeable change in colour. he sighed again as he took out the homework that he had to complete by today.

“yeosang hyung! what are you doing here?” it was jongho. he was standing at the entrance of the park, now dressed in his uniform.

yeosang immediately groaned.

“hyung! what’s up?” jongho had jogged over to the table bench and sat down opposite him. 

“nothing,” said yeosang, as he started to write. 

“oh? you’re doing homework?”

“no, i’m eating,”

“i’d like to see you eat _that_ ,” jongho chuckled and leaned closer to take a look at the worksheet yeosang was working on.

“why won’t you go back to the dorm to do it?”

yeosang didn’t bother replying him as he thought the answer was obvious. jongho also didn’t bother asking again and the two were thus shrouded in silence.

for some reason, yeosang couldn’t really focus on the next equation as the silence prolonged. he felt pressured and the need to break the silence. maybe it was because he wasn’t used to working outdoors, or the fact that jongho was doing nothing but just staring at him.

“i’m gonna go back now,” yeosang gathered his papers in one stack and shoved them into his bag. just as he was about to sling his back on his shoulder, jongho had somehow stood up on the bench and grabbed yeosang’s bag. 

“h-hyung! just stay here. i’ll do mine too, so... don’t worry,”

yeosang stared at jongho in disbelief. his eyes looked so... serious and determined. _he might actually just wanna do his homework too..._

“bro, my bro. we can go back to the dorm together to do it. you were gonna follow me back anyways, right?” yeosang rolled his eyes and removed jongho’s grip from his bag.

“ahh... right. let’s go then!”

thus, the two set off back to their dorm.

“hold on, you wanna get some snacks?” jongho asked when they passed by the snack stall by the cafeteria. 

“nope. you just get whatever and come out quickly,” yeosang proceeded to sit on one of the benches nearby and whipped out his phone to use. 

_hoho! luckily i asked hongjoong hyung for his favourites!_ jongho winked at himself mentally and quickly bought the stuff like he was told.

“yeosang, yeosang!” jongho called out, waving at yeosang as he walked towards him.

“you forgot the hyung,” he rolled his eyes. “what is it?”

“look what i got you!” jongho exclaimed as he brought out a pack of honey butter cashew nuts. it was yeosang’s ****all-time favourite snack.

“o-oh... how did you know?” his eyes grew bigger at the sight of the snack and somehow felt a little... shy. his cheeks started heating up at the thought of maybe misjudging jongho as a rich, annoying, spoilt brat. maybe he had judged him too early. after all, it was just one event that had irritated him and it wasn’t even that big of a deal anyway.

“a little birdie came and told me,” jongho winked and started walking off.

_well... that was kinda cute._

\--

“hyung! what homework are you doing?” jongho asked as soon as they entered the room.

“math. didn’t you see it while we were at the park?” yeosang replied, raising his eyebrows. he placed his bag on the desk and sat down. jongho did so too, placing the plastic bag full of snacks on his own desk.

their desks were pushed together in the middle of the room, so they would be facing each other when they sat down.

“nope. i was too busy looking at you,” jongho said in a low voice, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. he placed both of his hands on the desk and inched his body forward. his face was dangerously close to yeosang’s.

yeosang was speechless. he felt his heart beat accelerating as the seconds passed. _was he going to-_

“you have an eyelash on your cheek,” jongho raised his hand up and gently swiped his thumb over his cheek. yeosang flinched and pushed his hand off, backing away from him.

“don’t t-touch my face. your hands are dirty,” yeosang stuttured, avoiding jongho’s eyes.

“haha, you thought i was going to kiss you?” he snickered, “i will only do so if you kiss me first,” 

“that will never happen!” yeosang shouted and pulled out his stack of homework, resuming on the math worksheet he was working on earlier.

“oh right. do you need help? i saw you struggling to complete it just now,” jongho snatched the worksheet away from his hands and observed it for way too long.

“shut up, jongho! you’re a grade lower than me,” yeosang snatched the worksheet back, “i wasn’t struggling on it anyway,”

“oh? then what were you thinking of?”

“i-i...”

i was just nervous because you were staring at me the whole time!!

somehow, the words just wouldn’t come out of his mouth.

“yeosang hyung,” jongho called out in a low voice, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. yeosang gulped. the way his name rolled off his tongue made his heart flutter.

“you’re cute,”

“i know that!! stop looking at me and do your work already!”

yeosang couldn’t help but crack a small smile. 


End file.
